Resolution No. 9640 - General Instructions for BEI on Testing and Sealing, Voting, Counting and Transmission of Election Results

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

 
SEC. 6. Arrest of absent members. - The member or members of the BEI present may order the arrest of any member who, in his or their judgment, has absented himself with the intention of obstructing the performance of the duties of the BEI.

SEC. 7. Appointment and oath of members of the BEI. - The EO shall accomplish the form for the Appointment of the Chairman and members of the BEI (CEF No. A5) in three (3) copies, and require the chairman and members of the BEI to affix before him their signatures and imprints of their right thumbs on the Oath of Office (CEF No. A5-A) before assumption of office.

Copies of the Appointment and Oath (CEF No. A5 & CEF No. A5-A) shall be distributed, as follows:

a)  The first and second copies shall be retained by the EO.  One copy shall be for his file and the other shall be attached to the payroll for payment of honorarium of the BEI; and

b)  The third copy shall be issued to the chairman and members of the BEI concerned.

SEC. 8. Minutes of Testing and Sealing; Voting and Counting (Minutes). - The BEI shall enter in the Minutes (CEF No. A11), the act or data therein required as they occur or become available during the testing and sealing, voting, counting, and transmission of results.  Copies thereof shall be sealed in separate envelopes, to be distributed as follows:

a)  First copy, to the EO, who shall transmit it to the Election Records and Statistics Department (ERSD), COMELEC, Manila; and

b)  Second copy, to be deposited inside the ballot box.

SEC. 9. Support Staff. - There shall be in addition to the regular members of the BEI depending on the number of precincts clustered, a maximum of three (3) support staff, who are registered voters in the precinct/clustered precinct where they are assigned.  They shall be appointed/designated by the EO, subject to the qualifications and conditions provided under Sections 2, 3 and 7 hereof, in such ratio as indicated below:

They can neither participate in any deliberation of the BEI nor vote on any issue or question that may arise during the proceedings.

In case of absence of all or any of the support staff on the day of the election, the BEI, by majority vote, may designate any registered voter in the precinct/clustered precinct as substitute, subject to the provisions of Sections 2, 3 & 7 hereof.  Such fact shall be recorded in the Minutes.

SEC. 10. Powers and functions of the BEI. - The BEI shall have the following powers and functions:

a)  Conduct the voting the polling place and administer the electronic counting of votes, including the testing and sealing of the PCOS machine;
   

b)  Print the election returns and transmit electronically the election results, through the use of the PCOS machine, to the:

i.  City/Municipal Board of Canvassers;

ii.  Central Servers; and

iii.  Transparency Server (Dominant Majority Party/Dominant Minority Party/Accredited Citizens' Arm/KBP server).

c)  Act as deputies of the Commission in the conduct of the elections;

d)  Maintain order within the polling place and its premises; keep access thereto open and unobstructed; enforce obedience to its lawful orders and prohibit the use of cellular phones and camera by the voters.  If any person refuses to obey the lawful orders of the BEI, or conducts himself in a disorderly manner in its presence or within its hearing and thereby interruprts or disturbs its proceedings, the BEI may issue an order in writing directing any peace officer to take said person into custody until the adjournment of the meeting, but such order shall not be executed as to prevent said person from voting.  A copy of such written order shall be attached to the Minutes;

e)  Furnish watchers Certificate of Votes (CEF No. A13) upon request; and

f)  Perform such other functions prescribed by law or by the rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission.

SEC. 11. Proceedings of the BEI. - The meeting of the BEI shall be public and shall be held in the polling place designated by the Commission.

The BEI shall act through its chairman and shall decide by majority vote, without delay, all questions, which may arise in the performance of its duties.

SEC. 12. Voting Privilege of the Members of BEI. - Members of the BEI who are registered voters in precincts other than where they are assigned, may avail of the Local Absentee Voting, or on the day of the elections, vote in the precincts where they are registered, provided that they do so when the voting in their respective places of assignments is light, and their absence shall not be for more than twenty (20) minutes.  For this purpose, they shall schedule their voting so that only one member of the BEI shall leave at any one time. 

| NEXT

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5  

Omnibus Election Code - Article XV

OMNIBUS ELECTION CODEArticle XV
WATCHERS

---

Sec. 178. Official watchers of candidates. - Every registered political party, coalition of political parties and every independent candidate shall each be entitled to one watcher in every polling place.

     No person shall be appointed watcher unless he is a qualified voter of the city or municipality, of good reputation and shall not have been convicted by final judgment of any election offense or of any other crime, must know how to read and write Pilipino, English, Spanish or any of the prevailing local dialects, and not related within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to the chairman or any member of the board of election inspectors in the polling place where he seeks appointment as a watcher.

     Each candidate, political party or coalition of political parties shall designate in every province, highly urbanized city or district in the Metropolitan Manila area, a representative authorized to appoint watchers, furnishing the provincial election supervisor or the city election registrar, as the case may be, the names of such representatives. The provincial election supervisors shall furnish the municipal election registrars and election registrars of component cities with the list of such representatives.

     In the case of Metropolitan Manila, the designation of the persons authorized to appoint watchers shall be filed with the Commission, which shall furnish the list of such representatives to the respective city and municipal election registrars.

Sec. 179. Rights and duties of watchers. - Upon entering the polling place, the watchers shall present and deliver to the chairman of the board of election inspectors his appointment, and forthwith, his name shall be recorded in the minutes with a notation under his signature that he is not disqualified under the second paragraph of Section 178. The appointments of the watchers shall bear the personal signature or the facsimile signature of the candidate or the duly authorized representatives of the political party or coalition of political parties who appointed him or of organizations authorized by the Commission under Section 180. The watchers shall have the right to stay in the space reserved for them inside the polling place. They shall have the right to witness and inform themselves of the proceedings of the board of election inspectors, including its proceedings during the registration of voters, to take notes of what they may see or hear, to take photographs of the proceedings and incidents, if any, during the counting of votes, as well as of election returns, tally boards and ballot boxes, to file a protest against any irregularity or violation of law which they believe may have been committed by the board of election inspectors or by any of its members or by any persons, to obtain from the board of election inspectors a certificate as to the filing of such protest and/or of the resolution thereon, to read the ballots after they shall have been read by the chairman, as well as the election returns after they shall have been completed and signed by the members of the board of election inspectors without touching them, but they shall not speak to any member of the board of election inspectors, or to any voter, or among themselves, in such a manner as would distract the proceedings, and to be furnished with a certificate of the number of votes in words and figures cast for each candidate, duly signed and thumbmarked by the chairman and all the members of the board of election inspectors. Refusal of the chairman and the members of the board of election inspectors to sign and furnish such certificate shall constitute an election offense and shall be penalized under this Code.

Sec. 180. Other watchers. - The duly accredited citizens arm of the Commission shall be entitled to appoint a watcher in every polling place. Other civic, religious, professional, business, service, youth and any other similar organizations, with prior authority of the Commission, shall be entitled collectively to appoint one watcher in every polling place.