Alleba 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

Sections 1 - 13

Sections 14 - 26

Sections 27 - 39

Sec. 40. Reconstitution of Lost or Destroyed Registration Records. —The Commission shall reconstitute all registration records which have been lost or destroyed by using the corresponding copies of the provincial or national central files. In case of conflict the Commission shall determine which file shall be used for reconstitution purposes. If this is not feasible, the Commission shall conduct a general registration of voters in the affected area: Provided, That there is a scheduled election before the next scheduled general registration of voters in accordance with the Omnibus Election Code. All such voters shall retain their voter’s identification number. Reconstituted forms shall be clearly marked with the word “reconstituted.”

It shall be the duty of the Election Officer to immediately report to the Commission any case of loss or destruction of registration record in his custody.

The reconstitution of any lost or destroyed registration records shall not affect the criminal liability of any person who is responsible for such loss or destruction.

Sec. 41. Examination of Registration Records. — All registration records/computerized voters list in the possession of the Election officer, the Provincial Election Supervisor, and the Commission in Manila shall, during regular office hours, be open to examination by the public for legitimate inquiries on election related matters, free from any charge or access fee.

Law enforcement agencies may, upon prior authorization and subject to regulations promulgated by the Commission, have access to said registration records should the same be necessary to and in aid of their investigative functions and duties.

Sec. 42. Right to Information. - The duly authorized representative of a registered political party or of a bonafide candidate shall have the right to inspect and/or copy at their expense the accountable registration forms and/or the list of registered voters in the precincts constituting the constituency of the bonafide candidate or at which the political party is fielding candidates. The inspection and copying shall be conducted during business hours of the Commission and shall be subject to reasonable regulations.

Sec. 43. Computerization of Permanent List of Voters. - A permanent and computerized list arranged by precinct, city or municipality, province and region shall be prepared by the Commission. Thereafter, another list shall be prepared consisting of the names of the voters, arranged alphabetically according to surnames.

The computer print-outs of the list of voters duly certified by the Board are official documents and shall be used for voting and other election related purposes as well as for legitimate research needs.

The total number of voters in the permanent list shall be the basis for the printing of the official ballots by the Commission.

Sec. 44. Reassignment of Election Officers. — No Election Officer shall hold office in a particular city or municipality for more than four (4) years. Any election officer who, either at the time of the approval of this Act or subsequent thereto, has served for at least four (4) years in a particular city or municipality shall automatically be reassigned by the Commission to a new station outside the original congressional district.

Sec. 45. Election Offenses. - The following shall be considered election offenses under this Act

1. to deliver, hand over, entrust or give, directly or indirectly, his voter’s identification card to another in consideration of money or other benefit of promise; or take or accept such voter’s identification card, directly or indirectly, by giving or causing the giving or money or other benefit or making or causing the making of a promise therefore;

2. to fail, without cause, to post or give any of the notices or to make any of the reports re-acquired under this Act;

3. to issue or cause the issuance of a voter’s identification number or to cancel or cause the cancellation thereof in violation of the provisions of this Act; or to refuse the issuance of registered voters their voter’s identification card;

4. to accept an appointment, to assume office and to actually serve as a member of the Election Registration Board although ineligible thereto, to appoint such ineligible person knowing him to be ineligible;

5. to interfere with, impede, abscond for purpose of gain or to prevent the installation or use of computers and devices and the processing, storage, generation, and transmission of registration data or information;

6. to gain, cause access to use, alter, destroy, or disclose any computer data, program, system software, network, or any computer-related devices, facilities, hardware or equipment, whether classified or declassified;

7. failure to provide certified voters and deactivated voters list to candidates and heads of representatives of political parties upon written request as provided in Section 30 hereof;

8. failure to include the approved application form for registration of a qualified voter in the book of voters of a particular precinct or the omission of the name of a duly registered voter in the certified list of voters of the precinct where he is duly registered resulting in his failure to cast his vote during an election, plebiscite, referendum, initiative and/or recall. The presence of the form or name in the book of voters or certified list of voters in precincts other than where he is duly registered shall not be an excuse hereof;

9. the posting of a list of voters outside or at the door of a precinct on the day of an election, plebiscite, referendum, initiative and/or recall, and which list is different in contents from the certified list of voters being used by the Board of Election Inspectors; and

10. Violation of the provisions of this Act.

Sec. 46. Penalties. — Any person found guilty of any Election offense under this Act shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than one (1) year but not more than six (6) years and shall not be subject to probation. In addition, the guilty party shall be sentenced to suffer disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage. If he is a foreigner, he shall be deported after the prison term has been served. Any political party found guilty shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000) but not more than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000).

Sec. 47. Funding. — The amount of Two billion pesos (2,000,000,000) is hereby included in the General Appropriations Act for the fiscal year 1997 to defray the expenses for the registration activities.

Sec. 48. Multi-partisan Monitoring and Evaluation Committee. — A Monitoring and Evaluation Committee is hereby created composed of seven (7) members to be based on party representation of the seven (7) major political parties that fielded presidential candidates in the 1992 synchronized elections. The Committee is an ad hoc body attached to the Commission but not subject to its supervision and control.

The task of the Committee is to monitor and evaluate the system, procedures or guidelines prepared by the Commission for the conduct of the general registration and the continuing system of registration in accordance with this Act.

The Committee shall prepare two reports outlining the findings and recommendations for immediate action or institution of corrective measures by the Commission and/or Congress. The first report shall be submitted to the Commission and Congress three (3) months before the holding of the general registration. The second report shall be due at the end of the year on the initial implementation of the system of continuing registration.

The amount not less than Fifty million pesos (P50,000,000) but not more than One hundred million pesos (P100,000,000) is hereby allocated from the Two billion pesos (P2,000,000,000) allocation provided in the preceding section for the operations of the Committee. This amount shall be held in trust by the Commission subject to the usual accounting and auditing procedures.

Sec. 49. Rules and Regulations. - The Commission shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this Act not later than ninety (90) days before the first day of registration as provided for in this Act.

Sec. 50. Separability Clause. - If any part of this Act is held invalid or unconstitutional, the other parts or provisions hereof shall remain valid and effective.

Sec. 51. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Sec. 52. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

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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