Article 28p. 28

OMNIBUS ELECTION CODE ELECTION LAWS, RULES AND PROCEDURES

shall be removed and deposited in the compartment for

spoiled ballots, and the ballots shall be included in the file

of valid ballots. If ballots with the words "spoiled" be

found in the box, such ballots shall likewise be placed in

the compartment for spoiled ballots.

Section 208. Marked ballots. — The board of election

inspectors shall then unfold the ballots and determine

whether there are any marked ballots, and, if any be

found, they shall be placed in an envelope labelled

"marked ballots" which shall be sealed and signed by the

members of the board of election inspectors and placed

in the compartment for valid ballots and shall not be

counted.

A

majority

vote

of

the

board

of

election

inspectors shall be sufficient to determine whether any

ballot is marked or not. Non-official ballots which the

board of election inspectors may find, except those which

have been used as emergency ballots, shall be considered

as marked ballots.

Section 209. Compartment for spoiled ballots. —

The ballots deposited in the compartment for spoiled

ballots shall be presumed to be spoiled ballots, whether

or not they contain such notation; but if the board of

election inspectors should find that during the voting any

valid

ballot

was

erroneously

deposited

in

this

compartment, or if any ballot separated as excess or

marked had been erroneously deposited therein, the

board of election inspectors shall open said compartment

after the voting and before the counting of votes for the

sole purpose of drawing out the ballots erroneously

deposited

therein. It shall then prepare and sign a

statement of such fact and lock the box with its three

keys

immediately

thereafter.

The

valid

ballots

so

withdrawn shall be mixed with the other valid ballots, and

the excess or marked ballots shall be placed in their

proper

envelopes

which shall for such purposes be

opened and again labelled, sealed, signed and kept as

hereinafter provided.

Section

210.

Manner of counting votes. — The

counting of votes shall be made in the following manner:

the board of election inspectors shall unfold the ballots

and form separate piles of one hundred ballots each,

which shall be held together with rubber bands, with

cardboard of the size of the ballots to serve as folders. The

chairman of the board of election inspectors shall take

the ballots of the first pile one by one and read the names

of candidates voted for and the offices for which they

were voted in the order in which they appear thereon,

assuming such a position as to enable all of the watchers

to read such names. The chairman shall sign and affix his

right

hand

thumbmark

at

the

back

of

the

ballot

immediately after it is counted. The poll clerk, and the

third member, respectively, shall record on the election

returns and the tally board or sheet each vote as the

names voted for each office are read.

Each vote shall be recorded by a vertical line, except

every fifth vote which shall be recorded by a diagonal line

crossing

the

previous

four

vertical

lines.

One

party

member shall see to it that the chairman reads the vote

as written on the ballot, and the other shall check the

recording of the votes on the tally board or sheet and the

election returns seeing to it that the same are correctly

accomplished. After finishing the first pile of ballots, the

board of election inspectors shall determine the total

number of votes recorded for each candidate, the sum

being noted on the tally board or sheet and on the

election returns. In case of discrepancy such recount as

may be necessary shall be made. The ballots shall then be

grouped together again as before the reading. Thereafter,

the same procedure shall be followed with the second

pile of ballots and so on successively. After all the ballots

have been read, the board of election inspectors shall

sum up the totals recorded for each candidate, and the

aggregate sum shall be recorded both on the tally board

or sheet and on the election returns. It shall then place

the counted ballots in an envelope provided for the

purpose, which shall be closed signed and deposited in

the compartment for valid ballots. The tally board or

sheet as accomplished and certified by the board of

election inspectors shall not be changed or destroyed but

shall be kept in the compartment for valid ballots.

Section 211. Rules for the appreciation of ballots. —

In the reading and appreciation of ballots, every ballot

shall be presumed to be valid unless there is clear and

good reason to justify its rejection. The board of election

inspectors shall observe the following rules, bearing in

mind that the object of the election is to obtain the

expression of the voter's will:

1. Where only the first name of a candidate or only his

surname is written, the vote for such candidate is valid, if

there is no other candidate with the same first name or

surname for the same office.

2. Where only the first name of a candidate is written

on the ballot, which when read, has a sound similar to the

surname of another candidate, the vote shall be counted

in favor of the candidate with such surname. If there are

two or more candidates with the same full name, first

name or surname and one of them is the incumbent, and

on the ballot is written only such full name, first name or

surname, the vote shall be counted in favor of the

incumbent.

3. In case the candidate is a woman who uses her

maiden or married surname or both and there is another

candidate with the same surname, a ballot bearing only

such surname shall be counted in favor of the candidate

who is an incumbent.

4. When two or more words are written on the same

line on the ballot, all of which are the surnames of two or

more candidates, the same shall not be counted for any

of them, unless one is a surname of an incumbent who

has served for at least one year in which case it shall be

counted in favor of the latter.

When two or more words are written on different

lines on the ballot all of which are the surnames of two or

more candidates bearing the same surname for an office

for which the law authorizes the election of more than

one and there are the same number of such surnames

written as there are candidates with that surname, the

vote shall be counted in favor of all the candidates

bearing the surname.

5. When on the ballot is written a single word which is

the first name of a candidate and which is at the same

time the surname of his opponent, the vote shall be

counted in favor of the latter.

6. When two words are written on the ballot, one of

which is the first name of the candidate and the other is

the surname of his opponent, the vote shall not be

counted for either.

7. A name or surname incorrectly written which,

when read, has a sound similar to the name or surname

of a candidate when correctly written shall be counted in

his favor;

8. When a name of a candidate appears in a space of

the ballot for an office for which he is a candidate and in

another space for which he is not a candidate, it shall be

counted in his favor for the office for which he is a

candidate and the vote for the office for which he is not a

candidate shall be considered as stray, except when it is

used as a means to identify the voter, in which case, the

whole ballot shall be void.

If the word or words written on the appropriate blank

on the ballot is the identical name or surname or full

name, as the case may be, of two or more candidates for

the same office none of whom is an incumbent, the vote

shall be counted in favor of that candidate to whose ticket

belong all the other candidates voted for in the same

ballot for the same constituency.

9. When in a space in the ballot there appears a name

of a candidate that is erased and another clearly written,

the vote is valid for the latter.

10. The erroneous initial of the first name which

accompanies the correct surname of a candidate, the

erroneous

initial

of

the surname accompanying the

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