Election 2007: RA 8189 (Sections 14 - 26)
July 18th, 2006 at 9:06 am (Election 2007, General, National Politics)
REPUBLIC ACT No. 8189
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A GENERAL REGISTRATION OF VOTERS,
ADOPTING A SYSTEM OF CONTINUING REGISTRATION,
PRESCRIBING THE PROCEDURES THEREOF AND
AUTHORIZING THE APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS THEREFOR
Sec. 14. Illiterate or Disabled Applicants. — Any illiterate person may register with the assistance of the Election Officer or any member of an accredited citizen’s arms. The Election Officer shall place such illiterate person under oath, ask him the questions, and record the answers given in order to accomplish the application form in the presence of the majority of the members of the Board. The Election Officer or any member of an accredited citizen’s arm shall read the accomplished form aloud to the person assisted and ask him if the information given is true and correct The accomplished form shall be subscribed by the applicant in the presence of the Board by means of thumbmark or some other customary mark and it shall be subscribed and attested by the majority of the members of the Board.
The attestation shall state the name of the person assisted, the name of the Election Officer or the member of the accredited citizen’s arm who assisted the applicant, the fact that the Election Officer placed the applicant under oath, that the Election Officer or the member of the accredited citizen’s arm who assisted the applicant read the accomplished form to the person assisted, and that the person assisted affirmed its truth and accuracy, by placing his thumbmark or some other customary mark on the application in the presence of the Board.
The application for registration of a physically disabled person may be prepared by any relative within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity or by the Election Officer or any member of an accredited citizen’s arm using the data supplied by the applicant. The fact of illiteracy or disability shall be so indicated in the application.
The Board shall be composed of the Election Officer as chairman and as members, the public school official most senior in rank and the local civil registrar, or in this absence, the city or municipal treasurer. In case of disqualification of the Election Officer, the Commission shall designate an acting Election Officer who shall serve as Chairman of the Election Registration Board. In case of disqualification or non-availability of the Local Registrar or the Municipal Treasurer, the Commission shall designate any other appointive civil service official from the same locality as substitute.
No member of the Board shall be related to each other or to any incumbent city or municipal elective official within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity. If in succeeding elections, any of the newly elected city or municipal officials is related to a member of the board within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity, such member is automatically disqualified to preserve the integrity of the Election Registration Board.
Every registered party and such organizations as may be authorized by the Commission shall be entitled to a watcher in every registration board.
Sec. 16. Compensation of the Members of the Board. — Each member of the Board shall be entitled to an honorarium to Two Hundred Pesos (P200.00) for each day of actual service rendered in the Board, which amount the Commission may adjust every three (3) years thereafter. No member of the Board shall be entitled to travelling expenses.
Sec. 17. Notice and Hearing of Applications. — Upon receipt of applications for registration, the Election Officer shall set them for hearing, notice of which shall be posted in the city or municipal bulletin board and in his office for at least one (1) week before the hearing, and furnish copies thereof to the applicant concerned, the heads or representatives of political parties, and other accredited groups or organizations which actively participate in the electoral process in the city or municipality. On the date of the hearing, the Election Officer shall receive such evidence for or against the applicant.
A registrant whose application is not seasonably objected to shall be notified in writing stating therein that no objection was raised against his application and that he need not appear on the date set for the hearing of his application. Physical presence of the applicant concerned shall, however, be mandatory in all cases where objections against his application have been seasonably filed with the proper Election Registration Board for him to rebut or refute evidence presented in opposition thereto.
All applications for registration shall be heard and processed on a quarterly basis. For this purpose, the Election Registration Board shall meet and convene on the third Monday of April, July, October, and January of every calendar year, or on the next following working day if the designated days fail on a non-working holiday, except in an election year to conform with the one hundred twenty (120) days prohibitive period before election day. Should one day be sufficient for the processing of all accepted applications, the Board shall adjourn from day to day until all the applications shall have been processed.
Sec. 18. Challenges to Right to Register. — Any voter, candidate or representative of a registered political party may challenge in writing any application for registration, stating the grounds therefor. The challenge shall be under oath and be attached to the application, together with the proof of notice of hearing to the challenger and the applicant.
Oppositions to contest a registrant’s application for inclusion in the voter’s list must, in all cases, be filed not later than the second Monday of the month in which the same is scheduled to be heard or processed by the Election Registration Board. Should the second Monday of the month fall on a non-working holiday, oppositions may be filed on the next following working day. The hearing on the challenge shall be heard on the third Monday of the month and the decision shall be rendered before the end of the month.
Sec. 19. Power to Administer Oath and Issue Summons. — For purposes of determining the right of the applicants to be registered as a voter, the Election Officer shall have the power to administer oath, issue subpoena duces tecum and swear in witnesses. The fees and expenses incidental thereto shall be paid in advance by the party in whose behalf the summons is issued.
Sec. 20. Approval and Disapproval of Application. — The Election Officer shall submit to the Board all applications for registration filed, together with the evidence received in connection therewith. The Board shall, by majority vote, approve or disapprove the applications.
Upon approval, the Election Officer shall assign a voters identification number and issue the corresponding identification card to the registered voter. If the Board disapproves the application, the applicant shall be furnished with a certificate of disapproval stating the ground therefor. In cases of approval or disapproval, any aggrieved party may file a petition for exclusion or inclusion, as the case may be, with the proper Municipal or Metropolitan Trial Court as provided for in this Act.
Sec. 21. Publication of Action on Application for Registration. — Within five (5) days from approval or disapproval of application, the Board shall post a notice in the bulletin board of the city or municipal hall and in the office of the Election Officer, stating the name and address of the applicant, the date of the application, and the action taken thereon. The Election Officer shall furnish a copy of such notice personally, or by registered mail or special delivery to the applicant and heads or representatives of registered political parties in the city or municipality.
Sec. 22. Preservation of Voter’s Registration Records. — The Election Officer shall compile the original copies of the approved applications for registration per precinct and arrange the same alphabetically according to surname. He shall preserve the book of voters and ensure its integrity. The second and third copies of the registration records shall be sent to the provincial and national central files within three (3) days after the approval of the Board.
Sec. 23. Provincial File. — There shall be a provincial file consisting of the duplicate copies of all registration records in each precinct of every city and municipality in the province. It shall be in the custody of the Provincial Election Supervisor and shall be compiled and arranged by precinct, by municipality and alphabetically by surnames of voters.
Should the book of voters in the custody of the Election Officer be lost or destroyed at a time so close to election day that there is no time to reconstitute the same, the corresponding book of voters in the provincial file shall be used during the voting.
Sec. 24. National Central File. — There shall be a national central file under the custody of the Commission in Manila consisting of the third copies of all approved voter registration records in each city or municipality. It shall be compiled by precinct in each city/municipality and arranged alphabetically by surname so as to make the file a replica of the book of voters in the possession of the Election Officer. Thereafter a national list shall be prepared following the alphabetical arrangements of surnames of voters.
There shall be a national file consisting of the computerized voters’ list (CVL), both in print and in diskette, submitted by the Election Officers in each city and municipality concerned, under the custody of the Commission in Manila.
The computerized voters’ list shall make use of a single and uniform computer program that will have a detailed sorting capability to list voters alphabetically by the precincts where they vote, by the barangays, municipalities, cities or provinces where they reside and by their voters identification number (VIN).
Sec. 25. Voter’s Identification Card. — The voters identification card issued to the registered voter shall serve as a document for his identification. In case of loss or destruction, no copy thereof may be issued except to the registered voter himself and only upon the authority of the Commission.
The Commission shall adopt a design for the voter’s identification card which shall be, as much as possible, tamper proof. It shall provide the following: the name and address of the voter, his date of birth, sex, photograph, thumbmark, and the number of precinct where he is registered, the signature of the voter and the chairman of the Election Registration Board and the voter’s identification number (VIN).
Sec. 26. Voter’s Identification Number (VIN). — The Commission shall assign every registered voter a voter’s identification number (V1N) consisting of three parts, each separated by a dash. For example: 7501-00191-C145BCD.
a. Part 1: Current Address of the Voter
1. the first two digits 75 stand for the province; and
2. The last two digits, 01, stand for the city, municipality, or a district, particularly in Manila.
The code assignment for provinces, cities and municipalities shall follow the Urban Code devised by the National Census and Statistics Office (NCSO).
b. Part II: Current Precinct Assignment of the Voter
1. The first four digits, 0019, stand for the permanent number of the precinct where the voter is currently assigned: and
2. The letter indicates whether it is a mother or a daughter precinct.
The number assigned to the precinct in every city or municipality shall be permanent but the voter may transfer his precinct number. The VIN reflects the current precinct assignment of the voter.
c. Part III: Permanent Birth and Name Code Unique to the Voter
1. The letter, C, stands for the month, i.e., A for January, B for February, and so forth;
2. The next two digits, 14, stand for the date of birth;
3. The next two digits, 51, stand for the year of birth; and
4. The last three letters, BCD, stand for the name code, i.e., Bayani Cruz Davide.
The last three letters shall stand for the first letter of the first name, the middle name, and the last name in that order.
The Commission shall ensure that Part III hereof of the voter’s identification number (VIN) shall be permanent and unique to each voter. If necessary, the Commission may expand and modify the same.
d. The combined birth and name code is assigned during the lifetime of every voter. Upon transfer of the voter to another precinct, the first two parts of the VIN shall change.
Approved, June 11, 1996.
from the COMELEC Website
This is part of the Alleba Politics voters’ education series, Election 2007, on the upcoming 2007 Elections.
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Alleba Politics » Election 2007: RA 8189 (Sections 01 - 13) said,
July 18, 2006 at 9:23 am
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