Article 69p. 69

OMNIBUS ELECTION CODE ELECTION LAWS, RULES AND PROCEDURES

Section

12.

Procurement

of

equipment

and

materials . — To achieve the purpose of this Act, the

Commission in authorized to procure, in accordance with

existing laws, by purchase, lease, rent or other forms of

acquisition,

supplies,

equipment,

materials,

software,

facilities, and other service, from local or foreign sources

free from taxes and import duties, subject to accounting

and auditing rules and regulation. With respect to the

May 10, 2010 election and succeeding electoral exercises,

the system procured must have demonstrated capability

and been successfully used in a prior electoral exercise

here or board. Participation in the 2007 pilot exercise shall

not be conclusive of the system's fitness.

In

determining

the

amount

of

any bid from a

technology, software or equipment supplier, the cost to

the government of its deployment and implementation

shall be added to the bid price as integral thereto. The

value of any alternative use to which such technology,

software or equipment can be put for public use shall not

be deducted from the original face value of the said bid.

(8a) (as amended by RA No 9369)

Section 13. Continuity Plan . — The AES shall be so

designed to include a continuity plan in case of a systems

breakdown or any such eventuality which shall result in

the delay, obstruction or nonperformance of the electoral

process. Activation of such continuity and contingency

measures

shall

be

undertaken

in

the

presence

of

representatives of political parties and citizen's arm of the

Commission who shall be notified by the election officer

of such activation.

All political parties and party-lists shall be furnished

copies of said continuity plan at their official addresses as

submitted to the Commission. The list shall be published

in at least two newspaper of national of circulation and

shall be posted at the website of the Commission at least

fifteen (15) days prior to the electoral activity concerned.

(9a) (as amended by RA No 9369)

Section 14. Examination and Testing of Equipment

or Device of the AES and Opening of the Source Code

for Review . — The Commission shall allow the political

parties and candidates or their representatives, citizens'

arm or their representatives to examine and test.

The equipment or device to be used in the voting and

counting on the day of the electoral exercise, before

voting start. Test ballots and test forms shall be provided

by the Commission.

Immediately after the examination and testing of the

equipment or device, parties and candidates or their

representatives, citizen's arms or their representatives,

may submit a written comment to the election officer

who shall immediately transmit it to the Commission for

appropriate action.

The election officer shall keep minutes of the testing,

a copy of which shall be submitted to the Commission

together with the minute of voting.

Once

an

AES

technology

is

selected

for

implementation, the Commission shall promptly make

the source code of that technology available and open to

any

interested

political

party

or

groups which may

conduct their own review thereof. (10a) (as amended by

RA No 9369)

Section 15. Official ballot. — The Commission shall

prescribe the format of the electronic display and/or the

size and form of the official ballot, which shall contain the

titles of the position to be filled and/or the proposition to

be voted upon in an initiative, referendum or plebiscite.

Where

practicable,

electronic

displays

must

be

constructed to present the names of all candidates for

the same position in the same page or screen, otherwise,

the electronic displays must be constructed to present

the entire ballot to the voter, in a series of sequential

pages, and to ensure that the voter sees all of the ballot

options on all pages before completing his or her vote

and to allow the voter to review and change all ballot

choices prior to completing and casting his or her ballot.

Under each position to be filled, the names of candidates

shall

be

arranged

alphabetically

by

surname

and

uniformly indicated using the same type size. The maiden

or married name shall be listed in the official ballot, as

preferred

by

the

female

candidate.

Under

each

proposition to be vote upon, the choices should be

uniformly indicated using the same font and size.

A fixed space where the chairman of the board of

election

inspector

shall

affix

her/her

signature

to

authenticate the official ballot shall be provided.

For

this

purpose,

the

Commission shall set the

deadline for the filing of certificate of candidacy/petition

of registration/manifestation to participate in the election.

Any person who files his certificate of candidacy within

this period shall only be considered as a candidate at the

start of the campaign period for which he filed his

certificate of candidacy: Provided , That, unlawful acts or

omissions applicable to a candidate shall effect only upon

that start of the aforesaid campaign period: Provided,

finally , That any person holding a public appointive office

or position, including active members of the armed

forces,

and

officers,

and

employees

in

government-owned or-controlled corporations, shall be

considered ipso facto resigned from his/her office and

must vacate the same at the start of the day of the filing

of his/her certification of candidacy.

Political parties may hold political conventions to

nominate their official candidate within thirty (30) days

before the start of the period for filing certificate of

candidacy.

With respect to a paper-based election system, the

official ballots shall be printed by the National Printing

Office and/or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas at the price

comparable with that of private printers under proper

security measures which the Commission shall adopt.

The Commission may contact the services of private

printers

upon

certification

by

the

National

Printing

Office/ Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas that it cannot meet

the printing requirements. Accredited political parties

and deputized citizen's arms of the Commission shall

assign watchers in the printing, storage and distribution

of official ballots.

To prevent the use of fake ballots, the Commission

through the Committee shall ensure that the necessary

safeguards,

such

as,

but

not

limited to, bar codes,

holograms, color shifting ink, microprinting, are provided

on the ballot.

The official ballots shall be printed and distributed to

each city/municipality at the rate of one ballot for every

registered voter with a provision of additional three

ballots per precinct. (11a) (as amended by RA No 9369)

Section 16. Substitution of candidates . — In case of

valid substitutions after the official ballots have been

printed, the votes cast for the substituted candidates shall

be considered votes for the substitutes. (15a)

Section 17. Ballot box . — Where applicable, there

shall be in each precinct on election day a ballot box with

such safety features that the Commission may prescribe

and of such size as to accommodate the official ballots.

(13a) (as amended by RA No 9369)

Section 18. Procedure in voting . — The Commission

shall prescribe the manner and procedure of voting,

which can be easily understood and followed by the

voters, taking into consideration, among other things, the

secrecy of the voting. (14a) (as amended by RA No 9369)

Section 19. Closing of polls . — After the close of

voting, the board shall enter in the minutes the number

of registered voters who actually voted, the number and

serial number of unused and spoiled ballots, the serial

number of the self-locking metal seal to be used in

sealing the ballot box. The board shall then place the

minutes inside the ballot box and thereafter close, lock

and seal the same with padlocks, self-locking metal seals

or any other safety devices that the Commission may

authorize.

The

chairman

of

the

Board

of

Election

Inspectors shall publicly announce that the votes shall be

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