ELECTION LAW NOTES
(fraud in election) , returns, an qualification (quo
 Preproclamation controversy- filed if you don’t want
your opponent be proclaimed in the election, you file a
preproclamation controversy to stall the proclamation
of the winner
 If no appeal or preprclamation controversies then the
proclamation stage ends the election process.
 If the winner is proclaimed and the non-winning
candidate wants to file an election contest, he can file
and election contest of quo warranto proceeding
 Election contest is either be
 Election Protest: if there is fraud
 Quo warranto: the petitioner could ask that the
candidate should be disqualified to continue the
office bcus of lack of qualification or not qualified
to the office (not questioning who won in the
election)
ELECTION FLOW CHART
1st Casting of Vote- counting- canvassing- proclamation (there
could be preproclamation controversy in this stage)- election
contest- election offenses
 Suffrage- right to vote in election of officers chosen by
people and in the determination of questions submitted
to people
 May also be exercised by qualified filipinos abroad
(Overseas Absentee Voting Act)
 The Congress shall provide system fr absentee
voting by qualified filipinos abroad (Constitution)
 Election- expression of the sovereign power of the
people
 Regular - refers to election participated in by those
who possess the right of suffrage and not
disqualified by law and who registered voters
 Special- when there is a failure of election on the
scheduled date of regular election in a particular
place OR conducted to fill up certain vacancies, as
provided by law (COMELEC will called for)
 Creation, division, merger , abolition or substantial
alteration of the boundaries of LGU must be approved
by a plebiscite in the political unit affected
Powers and functions of COMELEC
1. Exclusive Original jurisdiction
 All (election contest)contest relating to elections
warranto proceeding) of all elective provincial, city
officials
2. Appellate Jurisdiction- All contest involving
 Elective municipal officials decided by the trial
court of general jurisdiction (If you question the
qualification of the Mayor, you go to the RTC)
 Elective barangay officials decided by the trial
court of limited jurisdiction - MTC (If you question
the brgy official/ quo warranto, you go to MTC)
 Decisions, final orders or rulings of the
Comelec on election contest involving elective
municipal and barangay officials shall be final
and executory and not appealable
3. Decide All questions affecting elections
 Except:right to vote bcus the Comelec is not the
one deciding on the approval or disapproval on
application for registration to vote but by the
Election Registration Board
 Petition for Inclusion - In case your application
for registration is disapproved by ERB and you
think that you are qualified
 Petition for exclusion- If you see flying voters
and you don’t want them to vote on the
election, you file a petition for exclusion on
the ground that they are non-residence of the
locality, you
 Petition for inclusion and exclusion shalll
be filed before MTC
4. Registration of political parties, organizations or coalition/
accreditation of citizens arms of the Comelec
 Registration with SEC is not condition sine quanon
for registration in the Comelec as political party,
but you have to register with SEC if you want to
acquire a juridical personality
 Registration of political party is different from
accreditation of political party
 Accreditation of political party - purpose is only the
determination whether you belong to majority /
minority of political party, to obtain a copy of
election returns and entitled to send watchers to
polling places
 If you belong to the dominant majority and
minority, you are entitled right away of the
copy of election return
5. File, upon verified complaint, or its own initiative petition
in court for the inclusion or exclusion of voters, investigate
and where appropriate, prosecute cases for violation of
election laws, including acts or omissions constituting fraud,
offenses and malpractice
6. Recommend to Congress effective measures to minimize
election spending, limitation of places where propaganda
materials shall be posted, and to prevent and penalize all
form of election frauds, offenses. Malpractice and nuisance
candidates
 Party list - are parties which have advocacies, idealism
and platform of government
 Can comelec change the schedules or periods
prescribed by law for pre-election activities?
 RA6646 SEC29: If it should no longer be reasonably
possible to observe the periods and dates
prescribed by law for certain pre-election acts, the
COMELEC shall fix other periods and dates in order
to ensure accomplishment of the activities so the
voters shall not be deprived of their right to vote
(allowed to change the schedule to make it
reasonable and practical even if there is no law
passed recently extending, the COMELEC can still
fix other dates )
 Comelec may sit en banc or in 2 divisions, and shall
promulgate its rules of procedure in order to expedite
dispositions of election cases, including preproclamation
controversies
 Decisions shall be decided by division first, file an
MR, and en banc
 Only decision en banc may be brought to SC on
certiorari under R65
 Under the Constitution, power of the SC to review
exclusive jurisdiction of the COMELEC only extends
to final decisions/ resolutions of the COMELEC en
banc, not to interlocutiry orders by Dvisions (Sahali
v Comelec)
 Only decisions of the Comelec made in the exercise of
its quasijudicial power (not administrative power) may
be brought to the SC on certiorari
 If comelec en banc is equally divided:
 Rehearing of case (rule of majority)
 No decision is reach even after rehearing: (Legaspi
v Comelec)
 Dismissed (if original case filed en banc)
 Affirmed (if appealed case)
 Denied (if incidental matters)
 Midnight appointments are prohibited under Art7 of the
Constitution
 2 months immediately before the next presidential
election and up to the end of is term ( March? To
June 30), President or acting president shall not
make appointments, except temporary
appointments to executive positions when
continues vacancies therein will prejudice public
service or endanger public safety (Mid term
election is not counted/ covered by midnight
appointments
 SC upheld CSS Resolution which prohibited local
elective officials from making appointments
immediately before and after elections
 Exception to Midnight Appointments
 Appointment gone thru the regular screening by
the Personnel Selection Board before the
prohibited period on the issuance of appointments
as shown by the PSB or minutes of its meetings
 Appointee is qualified
 Need to fill up the vacancy immediately in order
not to prejudice public service and/or endanger
public safety
 Appointment is not one of those mass
appointments issued after the elections
 Prohibition on midnight appointment only applies to the
presidential appointments. It does not apply to
appointments made by local chief executives (made by
governor)
DATE OF ELECTIONS
 Constitution- unless otherwise provided b law, 2nd
Monday of May
 Art18: first election of the members of Congress 2 nd
Monday of May
 1st local elections may be simultaneous with the
election of the Members of the Congress
Qualifications of Voters (Under the Law)
1. Filipino Citizen
2. At least 18 on election day
3. Resident of Ph for at least 1 yr
4. Resident of the city/mun where he propose to vote 6 mo
before the elect
 Any person who temporarily resides in another
place by reason of his employment, educational
activities or detention does not lose his original
residence (RA8189)
5. Not disqualified by law
Disqualifications of Voters/ registering
1. Any person who has been sentenced by final judgment to
suffer imprisonment of not less than 1 yr (penalty of
imprisonment must be 1 yr+), such disability not having been
removed by plenary pardon, or amnesty.
 Provided, however, automatically reacquire the
right to vote upon expiration of 5 yrs service of
sentence (counting 5 yrs from your release, you
check if your voter registration is still active or ask
for reaactivation )
2. Adjudged by final judgment by a competent court/ tribunal
of having committed any crime involving disloyalty to the duly
constituted gov’t such as
a) Rebellion
b) Sedition
c) Violation of firearms laws
d) Any crime agnst national security Unless restored
to his full an civil political rights. Provided,
automatically reacquire the right to vote upon
expiration of 5 yrs after service of sentence
3. Insane or incompetent person declared by competent
authority
 Unless subsequently declared by proper authority
that such person is no longer insane or
incompetent
 May an accuses in detention be allowed to vote?
 Yes. Under the law,a person is disqualified to
vote only when there is only final judgment
for him to suffer imprisonment. A detanee
can be allowed to vote under detainee voting
only in national election but not in local
election (hence, if taga mnl and he committed
a crime in QC and detained there, the
detainee can still exercise his right of
suffrage) as long as his voter registration is
active
DETANIEE Voting
 Resolution 9371: either thru special polling place inside
jails or escorted voting may be availed of by any
registered detainee whose registration record is not
transferred/ deactivated/ cancelled/ deleted.
 Detainee
 Confined in jail, formally charged for any crime and
awaiting/ undergoing trial
 Serving sentence of less than 1 yr
 Conviction of crime involving disloyalty to the duly
constituted gov’t (rebellion, sedition, violation of
firearms laws or any crime agsnt national security
or any other crime on appeal) - convicted of a
crime but same is still on applal/ not final judgment
yet
 The SC said that detainee cannot vote in local elections,
only in national elections
 Residency requirement is not required for Filipinos
abroad to vote.
 In Nicolas v Comelec, there is no provision in the
dual citizenship law RA9225 requiring duals to
actually establish residence and physically stay in
the Ph first before they can exercise their right to
vote.
 System of continuing registration of voters.
 All application for registration shall be heard and
processed on quarterly basis (RA8189)- this means that
when you apply for registration it doesn’t mean that you
are already a registered voter, bcus the ERB still have to
approved o disapproved your application if you possess
all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications
Registration Ban
 No registration shall be conducted during the period
starting
 120 days before regular election and (Registration
until Jan 9)
 90 days before a special election
 No special registration can be conducted by the comelec
within said periods
 Akbayan youth case: They were asking for addition
dates for registration but it fell within 120 day rbcus of
egistration ban, so hindi pwede
 Kabataan Partylist case: They asked for addition dates
for registration since there is still time to vote and the
ban is 120 days before regular election. In this case, the
comelec set the end of registration to Oct 30, 2009, and
the Kabataan partylist seek to extend it until Jan 9, 2010
before the May 9, 2010 election. The SC said that unlike
the Akbayan case, the Kabataan case were asking
additional dates before the 120 days prohibited period.
 Hence, even without the new law extending the
registration of voters, they can invoke the
Kabataan case for extention of registration prior to
120 days prohibition
Inclusion and Exclusion Proceedings
 Inclusion Proceedings
  In case you apply and your application is denied
but you think you are qualified- you ask for
inclusion (APPLICATION FORR REGISTRATION WAS
DISAPPROVED)
 Your application was approved but your name is
not in the book or removed (NAME STRICKEN OUT
FROM THE LIST)
 Petition shall be fled with MTC, appeal to RTC
within 5 days from the receipt of notice
 Decision of RTC is immediately final and
executory + no motion for reconsideration
 Prohibited 105 days before the regular
election or 75 days if special election
 Exclusion proceedings; filed by
 Any registered voter, (if there flying voter in your
locality)
 Representative of political party
 Election officer
 Comelec
 For purposes of removal of the name of a
person in the book of registration who is not
qualified to vote
 Prohibited 100 days before a regular election
or 65 days before special election
 Service of notice of the hearing to the
members of the Board (Election officer, Local
Civil Registrar, and most senior public school
teacher) and the challenged voter upon filing
of petition.
 Service by personal deliver or leaving a copy
in the possession of person of sufficient
discretion in the residence of the challenged
voter or by registered mail
 Should the foregoing procedures not be
practicable, the notice shall be posted in
the bulletin board of the city or
municipal hall and in 2 other conspicious
places within the city/ mun
CANCELLATION OF REGISTRATION; ground
 Death
DEACTIVATION OF REGISTRATION
 If you already registered and suddently you possess at
least one of the disqualification, then your registration
record is deactivated
 Convicted an offense etc
 Insane or incompetent
 Any person who did not vote in 2 successive
preceding regular election
 Whose registration is ordered excluded by the
court
 Lost his Filipino Citizenship
 No biometrics registration
REACTIVATION OF REGISTRATION
 If your registration has been deactivated, you ask for
reactivation by executing a sworn statement, stating
that the ground for deactivation no longer exist
Annulment of Book of voters (RA8189)
 Comelec upon verified petition or any voter or election
officer or duly registered political party, and after notice
and hearing, annul any book of voters that is
 not prepared in accordance with the provision of
this act or was prepared thru
 Fraud
 Forgery
 Bribery
 Impersonation
 Intimidation
 Force or any similar irregularity
 Contain date that are statistically improbable
 No annulment of book of voters 90 days before the
election
 Accessible polling poll for PWD and Senior citizen
(Ra10366)
ABSENTEE VOTING
 Domestic Absentee voting
 Public official/ employee temporarily stationed/
assigned in places other the place where he is a
registered voter (police, military, personnel of
Comelec, sch teachers) in the performance of his
election duties are allowed to vote in their place of
work
 Absentee voting for members of the media for
national office only, allowed to vote in advance
  Media practitioners, their technical and
support staff, camera man, editor etc
 Print journalist
 TV
 Photo
 Online journalist
 Radio
 Documentary
 Overseas Voting
 FIlipinos abroad, workers, immigrants and
permanent residence may vote on national
election
 The execution of an affidavit that an
immigrant/ permanent residence will resume
actual physical permanent residence in ph
within 3 yrs of his registration, statement
that he has not applied citizenship in another
country and that failure to return shall be
cause for removal of his name from the
registry of absentee voters and his permanent
disqualification to vote in absentia has
already been repealed by the subsequent law
of Overseas Voting Act
 Disqualification of OAV
 Lost their filipino citizenship
 Expressly renounced their Ph citizenship and
pledged allegiance to foreign country
 Convicted by final judgment for 1yr +
 Incompetent/ insane
POLITICAL PARTIES
 Sufficient publication, and
 Platform (ideology/ principles)
PARTYLIST
 Sectoral or at least carry the advocacies of that
particular sector, they can register I
 Partylist that cannot register
 Religious sects
 Seeks to achieve their goals thru unlawful means
(Magdalo who went into mutiny)
 The subsequent amnesty granted in favor of
the members of Magdalo, the events that
transpired during the Oakwood incident can
no longer be interpreted as acts of violence in
the context of the disqualification from any
registration
 If given amnesty it as if, no crime has been
committed
 Refuse to adhere to the Constitution
 Supported by foreign government
 ARARO Partylist v comelec: they ranked number 50 in
the list, and they are not given any seats so they filed an
election protest, stating na mali ang formula ng
comelec. (if you file an election protest against
members of HoR you file it to the HRET) but they went
to SC instead.
 Comelec formula is that they include the
disqualified partylist before and after election day.
Sc said that hindi dapat ganoon ang formula ng
divisor, ang dapat lang kasama ay yung votes cast
for the partylist system and kasama yung
subsequently disqualified partylist and not to be
included yung mga na disqualified na
 The formula in determining the winning party-list
groups: the divisor shall be the total number of
valid votes cast for the party-list system including
votes cast for the party-list groups whose names
are in the ballot but are subsequently disqualified
 The divisor shall not include partylist who are
disqualified and attain such finality before the
election as well as votes that are declared spoiled
or invalid
RULES ON CANDIDACY
Candidate
 any person seeking an elective public office who has
filed his certificate of candidacy and who has not died,
withdrawn his certificate of candidacy, had his cert of
candidacy denied due course or cancelled or ha been
otherwise disqualified before the start of the campaign
period
 Unlawful acts or omissions applicable to a
candidate shall take effect only upon the start of
campaign period
 Any registered national, sectoral, regional, organizations
or coalition that has filed a manifestation of intent to
participate under the partylist systemm, which has not
withdrawn said manifestation or not disqualified before
the start of the campaign period
Prohibition agnst multiple certificate of candidacies
 No person shall be eligible for more than 1 office to be
filled in the same election, and if he files his certificate
of candidacy for more than 1 office, he shall not be
eligible for any of them
 Unless you withdrew the other and kept only 1
 Filing or withdrawal of cert of candidacy shall not affect
whatever civil, criminal or administrative liabilities
which a candidate may have incurred
 The law does not say that kung saan ka dapat nag file,
doon ka din mag withdraw. You can withdraw anywhere
(ex: you file for a local post then you file a subsequent
national post)
Deadline for filing of certificate of candidacy
 Comelec shall set a deadline for the filing of certificate
of candicay/ petition for registration/ manifestation to
participation in the election
 Any person who files his certificate shall only be
considered as a candidate at the start of the campaign
period
 Persons holding a public appointive office or postion
(AFP and officers in the GOCC) shall be considered ipso
facto resigned from office and must vacate the same at
the start of the day of the filing of his certificate of
candidacy
 Ads on TV are not yet premature campaigning bcus no
solicitation of vote yet (Vote for) and not considered as
candidate yet (only upon the start of campaign period)
FILLING OF CERTIFICATE OF CANDIDACY
 Appointive office: ipso facto resigned
 Elective office: not considered resigned
 Substantial distinction exist between elective and
appointive officials. The former occupy their office
by virtue of the mandate of the electorate. They
are elected to an office for a definite term and may
be removed only upon stringent conditions .
Appointive officials hold their office by virtue of
their designation by appointing authority. Some
appointive officials hold their office in a permanent
capacity and are entitled to security of tenure
while others serve at the pleasure of the
appointing authority. (Quinto Case)
 A COC which did not indicate the position for which the
candidate is running for may be corrected and not
ground for dismissal; not a materia error (Conquilla
Case)
INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE (COMELEC RESO 10717) -
anything to do with the CONA
 One who falls in any of the following circumstance
 Not nominated by a duly registered Pol party or
coalition
 Whose CONA has been submitted by a pol party/
coalition not duly registered with the comelec
(accepted the cona and when you file, hindi pala
registered yung pol party)
 Who has not accepted a nomination or repudiated
a cona from a duly registered pol party or coalition
 Accepts a cona from more than 1 pol party or
coalition
 Whose cona is filed after the last day of filing of coc
 Submitted 2 conas from same polparty but signed
by 2 different officials, both of whom are
authorized signatories of the party
 Submitted a cona from the individual members of
the coalition, if nominated by coalition (say if
there is 3 pol part abc and you get cona from each
polparty but may coalition, dapat yung nag iisyu ng
cona ay yung coalition. If you get cona from each
polparty you are considered and independent
candidate)
 Submitted a cona not duly signed by the
authorized signatory of the pol party or coalition
 Such other ground determined by the comelec
DISQUALIFICATION TO BE A CANDIDATE (SEC12 OEC)
 Look back as to the disqualification as a registered voter
under Omnibus election code
 Insane or incompetent declared by competent
court
 Any person sentenced by final judgment of any of
the ff
 Insurrection/ rebellion
 Offense for which he was sentenced to
penalty of more than 18 mon (1yr+)
 Crime involving moral turpitude
 Permanent resident/ immigrant of foreign country
(unless he waives his status)
v DISQUALIFICATION OF CANDIDATES (SEC68 OF OEC)-
already a candidate (qualified as candidate but may ginawa
ka kaya dq)
1. Violation of election code
  Giving money or material consideration to
influence voters or public officials performing
electoral function
 Committing acts of terrorism to enhance his
candidacy
 Spending in his election campaign in excess of the
amnt allowed by the code (overspending)
 P and VP-P10
 Other candidates - P3 for every voter
currently registered in the constituency
where he filed his coc
 Candidate without pol party - P5 for every
voter
 Polparties- P5 for every voter
 (ER Ejercito run for office, won but overspend
on the campaign, hence a case for
overspending was file and subsequently he
was disqualified. Rules on sucession applies,
I.e the vice mayor inherit the office and not
the 2nd highest becus his coc is valid)
 Soliciting, receiving or making any prohibited
contribution
 Transportation, food, drinks
 Prohibited contributions (anything of value)
 Foreign sources (foreign entertainers in your
campaign/ foreign nationals)
 Prohibited raising of funds
 Prohibited donations by candidate, treasurers
of parties or their agents
 Violation of Sec83,261 par ,e,k,v, and cc, subpar 6
OEC
 Sec83: Unlawful for any person during the
campaign period to remove, destroy,
obliterate,deface,tamper or prevent the
distribution of lawful election propaganda (if
nahuli ang campaign staff
2. Nuisance candidate Sec69 EOC
 By verified petition or motu proprio
 Ground:
 Refuse to give due course or cancel a COC
 Put election process in mockery
 Cause confusion among voters by similarity of
names of the registered candidate
 by his acts no bona fide intention to run
 Should the votes cast for such nuisance candidate be
considered stray or counted in favor of the bona fide
candidate?
 Counted in favor of the bona fide candidate.
 The possibility of confusion in the names of
candidate if the names of nuisance candidates
remains in the ballots on the election day, cannot
be discounted or eliminated, even under
automated voting system especially considering
that voters who mistakenly shaded the oval beside
the name of the nuisance candidate instead of the
bonafide candidate they intended to vote for could
no longer ask for replacement ballots to correct
the same
 Tmbol v comelec: the power of the comelec to
restrict a citizens right of suffrage should not
arbitrarily exercised. The comelec cannot motu
proprio deny due course to or cancel an alleged
nuisance candidate’c COC without providing the
candidate his opportunity to be heard
 Jennifer case: Sc said that in multi slot position, it is
possible that that the legitimate candidate and
nuisance candidate may both receives votes in one
ballot. In that cae, the vote cast for the nuisance
candidate may not automatically be credited to the
legitimate candidate, otherwise, it shall result to a
situation where the latter shall receive 2 votes
from one voter
 Santos doctrine: the votes for the petitioner should
be counted in favor of private respondent; if there
are votes for both petitioner and private
respondent in the same ballot, then only 1 vote
should be counted in the latter’s favor. This will not
only discourage nuisance candidates, but will also
prevent the disenfrinchisement of voters
 Zapanta v comelec: Reynaldo and Alfred Zapanta
run for office. Reynaldo zapanta use a nickname of
“alfred” so in ballot there are 2 names of Alfred,
hence a disqualification case agnst Reynaldo.
Alfred here was in top 10 and Reynaldo in top 9.
Alfred petition the comelec that the 32k votes for
reynaldo should be added to him, which the
comelec did, hence reynoldo went to court. SC said
that Santos doctrine should apply
 Pag nag iisang vote lang for the nuisance,
kunin mo. Pag dalawa kayo ang na vote, hindi
pwede dahil mag dodouble vote ka
3. Falsity of material representation in coc (sec78)
 Yung nilagay mo sa COC ay material false
 There must be a verified petition
 Exclusive on the ground that any material
representation contained in the COC as requuired by
Sec74
 Salcedo v Comelec: the use of the married woman
surname of her husband in her cert of candidacy when
their marriage is bigamous does not constitute falsity of
a material misrepresentation, since she had no intention
to deceive and mislead the public as to her true identity
(their must an intention to deceive)
 Villafuerte v Comelec: At all events the use of a name
other than that stated in the certificate of birth is not a
meterial representation- it refers to qualification for
elective office (residency, age, citizenship or any other
legal qualification necessary to run. Nickname is not a
material representation
 Sec68: Petition for disqualification
 Sec78: petition to cancel or deny due course to a coc
 Falsity of material representation as to
qualification
 HRET v Lucy Torres: Richard Gomez misrepresent
his residency hence he was substituted by Lucy
Torres, which later on she won. The issue lies with
the substitution. Richard was actually disqualified
bcus of residency req which falls under Sec78. If
the disqualification falls in sec78, your COC will be
cancelled since your coc is void ab initio and there
cna be no valid substitution. Lucy 1st term in 2010
is not counted
EFFECT OF DISQUALIFICATION CASE
 If declared by final judgment: shall not be voted for and
vote cast in his favor shall not be counted
 No final judgment yet before an election: case shall
continue and his proclamation may be suspended if the
evidence of guilt is strong
SUBSTITUTION OF CANDIDATES;ground
1. Death
2. Disqualification
3. Withdrawal
 if the 3 happened during or with the filing of the coc,
you cannot substitute yet bcus you alone can file your
own coc
 Substitution happens only after the deadline of filing of
coc and any of the happened. Provided that the
substitute belongs to the same pol party as the
substituted candidate (up to mid daof election- only if
the ground is death)
 An independent candidate who joined the party of
disqualified candidate may be nominated as his
substitute even if he joined the party only after the
disqualification (Sinaca v Mula) SC said that nothing in
sec 77 that you should belong to a pol party at a certain
period prior of the withdrawal the substitute candidate
 Substitution is not allowed the coc to be substituted was
cancelled (Lucy Torres Case)
 Withdrawal for 2022 election is up to Nov 15 only
 Substitution of candidates should be allowed even for
brgy elections
 Substitution pol party nominees
 No substitution be allowed by reason of
withdrawal after polls.
 Substitution is not allowed once the list of
nominees has been submitted except for the 3
grounds .
 No change of names or alteration of the
order of nominee shall be allowed after the
same shall have been submitted (Lokin case)
Residency
 Domicile and residency in election is always a question
of intent. It is not easily lost
 If you are living with a relative or a friend that is
considered as a residency
 Dual citizens are disqualified from runnin g for any
elective local position. They cannot successfully run and
assume office bcus their ineligibility is inherent in them,
existing prior to the filing of their coc. Their coc are void
ab initio, and votes cast for them will be disregarded.
Consequently, whoever garners the next highest
number of the votes among the eligible candidates is
the person legally entitled to the position
 Petitioner’s failure to execute a personal and
sworn renunciation of American citienship,
petitioner was dual citizen at the time she filed her
coc. Under LGC, she was disqualified to run for
councilor (Chua v comelec)
 Uses her US passport again will not revert you to
being a dual citizenship
 Sanggunian by appointment: in case of vacancies
caused by ab initio COC, the person legally entitled
to the vacant position would be the candidate
who garnered the next highest number of votes
among those eligible. (in this case, it is private
respondent Bacani who is legally entitled to th
position of councilor, having garnered the 6th
highest number of votes among eligble candidates
 Natural- born filipinos who have been naturalized
elsewhere and wish to run for elective public office must
comply with all the ff
 Take oath of allegiance to the republic
  Comply with overseas absentee voting act and
other existing laws
 Make personal and sworn renunciation of any and
all foreign citizenship
 When you reacquire filipino citizenship, it is as if you are
natural born filipino
 However, reacquisition of filipino citizenship did not
automatically regain residence, Must still prove that
after becoming a Ph citizen, had re-establish a new
domicile of choice reckoned from the time he made it as
such
Lone Candidate law
 In special election called to fill a vacancy in elective
position other than P and VP, where there is only 1
qualified candidate for such position, the lone candidate
shall e proclaimed elected for such position, the lone
candidate shall be proclaimed elected to puch position
 Petitioner was barred from running in an election since
he was suffering from accesory penalty of perpetual
disqualification to hold public office as a consequence of
his dismissal from service as the Kagawad, after being
found guilty, along with others, of admin offense of
grave misconduct (Dimapilis v comelec). dq pa din even
if he won and elected as brgy chairman bcus of the
accessory penalty
ELECTION PERIOD and Campaign period
 Commence 90 days before the day of election and shall
end 30 days after, unless otherwise fixed by the comelec
PROHIBITED ACTS DURING ELECTION PERIOD
 Alteration of territory of a precinct or establishment of
new precinct
 Transfer, movement of officer and employees in CSC
incuding public teachers
 Prohibited form of raising funds (dances, lotteries,
cockfights, games, boxinng, bouts, bingo, beauty
contest, entertainments ect)
 Bearing, carrying or transporting firearms or other
deadly weapons, unless authorized in writing by
comelec
 Use of security personnel or bodyguards by candidates,
unless authorized in writing by comelec
 Organization or maintenance of reaction forces, strike
forces or other similar forces
 Suspension of local officials unless said suspension will
be for the purpose of applying the anti- graft and
corrupt practices acts
 Grant, suspension or cancellation of radio or TV
franchise during electio period
 Petition for forfeiture (within 1 yr before any general
election or within 3 mon before any special election)
 Judgment in forfeiture is prohibited within 6 mon
before any general election or within 3 mo before
special election
 Filing for Anti money laundering act
 No case for money laundering may be filed against
and no assets shall be frozen, attached or forfeited
to the prejudice of a candidate for an electoral
office during an election period
 Annulment of book of voters within 90 day period
vefore lection
CAMPAIGN PERIOD
 P, VP and senators and partylist (national) - 90 days
before the day of election (Feb)
 Member of HOR and elective provincial, city, mun
officials- 45 days before the day of election
Campaign spending
P and VP- 10 per voter
Others: 3
Independent candidate and Pol party - 5
Campaign finance and disclosure; not included in the limit
 Employment of counsel
 Photocopying of list of voters, challenging right to vote
 Printing of sample ballots
Lawful Electionpropaganda
 ELection propaganda on Tv, cable TV, radios, newspaper
or any other medium is allowed
 Written or printed materials not exceeding 81/2
 Handwrttem or printed letters uriging voters to
vote for or against party of candidate
 Posters not exceeding 2x3, but streamers not
exceeding 3x8 feet may be displayed at the site of
 a rally 5 days before the rally and should be
removed within 24 hrs after the rally
 If poster is made b ya private individual,
posted in his own property, the size does not
matter (Diocese of Bcd case) covered by
freedom of expression
 Paid ad in print or broadcast media
 All other forms of propaganda not prohibited by
OEC
 Mobile units, vehicles motorcade of all type, whether
engine or manpower-driven or animal-drawn, with or
without sound system or loud speaker and with or
without lights
 In the headquarters or residence of candidates lawful
election paraphernalia may be displayed, but banners
or streamerss are not allowed
 Right to reply of a candidate is not counted against him
Prohibited campaign materials
1. All printed, published or aired atters withot the owrd
a) Pol ad paid for
b) Pol ad paid by
2. Donated material without
a) Written acceptance and
b) Contain ‘printed free of charg’ or ‘airtime for this
broadcasr was povided free of charge by’
3. Film showing etc of candidate’s life or an actor who is a
candidate
4. Size, duartion and frequency matter
5. Media practioner’s undue favor or opposition
6. Post outside common poster area in public places, and in
private properties without the consent of the owner
PARTISAN POLITICAL ACTIVITY
 Any act that could defeat or enhance the candidacy of a
person
 Bawal sa members of CSC
 Personal opinions, views and prefereces for candidates,
conatined in blogs and micro blogs shall not be
considered as acts of election campaigning or partisan
pol activity unless expressed by the govt offcials in the
Excutive, legislatibe, judiciary, concom and csc members
PROHIBITED DONATIONS
 Prohibited for any candidate, his sps, relative within 2nd
degree of consanguinity of affinity or representative to
make any contribution for any structuture for public
use, or any religious dues and payments for scholarships
established and school contributions habitually made
before the campaign perios
PROHIBITED CONTRIBUTIONS (No political contribution shall
be made by the following)
 Public or private financial institutions
 Public utilities and those who exploit natural resources
 Where an operator for a public utimility disguised a
contributon to a candidate for a governor as a
loan, the promisory note is void
 Persons who hold contracts or subcontracts to supply
the government with goods and sevices
 Person grandted with franchise, imcentives, exemptions
or similar privililegs by the govt
 Person granted with loans in excess of 25k byt the govt
or any if its subdivision or instrumentalities
 Schools who received grats of public funds of at least
100k
 Employees in the CSC or AFP
 Foreigners
SOCE
 Filing
 Every candidate and teasurer of pol party shall file
within 30 days after election day a soce
 No one shall be allowed to assume office if he did
not file a soce
 Penalty
 1st offense- admin fine from 1k- 30k
 Subsequent offense
 admin fine from 2k- 66k
 Perpetual disqualification to hold public office
 Non-filing of soce is not an election offense
 Tax consequence:
 Reported to the comelec- not be subject to
payment of donor’s tax
 Unexpected balance from any contribution to
candidate or party shall be subject to income tax
 Should a candidate who has withdrawn his COC still file
his satatement of soce?
 Yes. It is not improbable that a candidate who
withdrew his candidacy has accepted contributions
and incurred expenditures, even in the short span
of his campaign. The evil sought to be prevented
by the law is not all too remote
Arrest during campaign period
 No person shall be arrested and / or detained at any
time for any alleged offense committed during and in
connection with any election, if it is violation of the rules
of campaign/ OEC
 except only upon warrant of arrest issued by a
competent judge (OEC)
 Warrantless arrest is not applicable
 You cannot censhor the election surveys. The freedom
to publish election surveys remains.Disclosure of those
who commissioned and/or paid for including those
subscribe to, published election surveys must be made
(issue is pinapalabas kung sino ang nag commission ng
surveys in re non-impairment clause- pwede ipalabas)-
SWS case
 RA9006 sec5.4: that surveys affecting national
candidates shall not be published 15 days before an
election and surveys affecting local candidates shall not
be published 7 days before election is unconstitution.
Invalide bcus:
 Imposes prior restraint on the freedom of
expression
 Diract and total suppression of a category of
expression even tho such expression idd only for a
limited period
 Governmenta interest sought to be promoted can
be achieved by means other than suppression of
freedom of expression
Casting stage
BOARD OF ELECTION INSPECTORS; composition
 All public school teachers:
 Permanent appoint
 Who serve in the 2019 national electio
 When not possible
 Private sch teachers, csc e,mployees or registered
voters known probity and competence may be
appointed
 Chairman (must be a public sch teacher)
 1 mem of the BEI shall be an information-tech
capable person as certified by DOST
 Elecion officer appoints the BEI members
POSTPONEMENT OF ELECTION re notes
Counting Stage (not applicable in AES)
 Neigborhood Rule- where the name of a candidate is
not written in the proper space in the ballot but is
preceded by the name of the office for which he is a
candidate, the vote shall be counted as valid for said
candidate
 Idem sonams- name or surname incorrectly written,
which when read, has a sound similar to the name or
surnaame of a candidate when correctly written-
counted in his favor (kuilala- quilala)
Canvassing Stage
Composition of Board of Canvassers re photo
 You can file a preproclamation controversy on the
ground of illegal composition/ illegal proceedings of
BOC
In case of tie (OEC)
 Among P/ VP - shall be broken by majority vote of both
houses, voting separately
 Tie among other positions- broken by drawing of lots
Failure to assume office
 Candidate fails to take oath of office within 6 mo from
proclaation, unless for a cause beyond the control of the
elected official, his office will be considered vacant
Partial proclamation
 Notwithstanding the oendency of any pre-proclamation
controversy, the comelec may summarily order the
proclamation of the other winning cnadidates whose
election will not be affected by the outcome of the
controversy
Post election remedies i. Period to file election protest is suspended by
filing of a petition to annul the proclamation
1. Failure of election of the winner
- a verified petition filed by any interested person when ii. Who may file:
election results in failure to elect
1. Any candidate who was voted for in the
- effect: comelec will call a special election same office who recieved the 2nd or 3rd
highest number of votes; in a multislot
2. Pre-proc controversies
position, amog the next 4 candidates fff
 any question pertaining to or affecting the proceedings, the last ranked winner duly proclaimed
composition of BOC
iii. Ground:
 FIled by any candidate or any registered pol party or
1. Fraud
coalition of pol parties, before the BOC or directly with
the comelec 2. Anomalies or irregularities in protested
precincts
 Initially who have to file it first to the BOC except
when the ground is illegal composition- file it with iv. Issue: who obtained the highest legal votes in
Comelec that election (dahil may dayaan)
 Issues that may be raised: v. Jurisdiction
 Illegal composition 1. P and VP- SC en banc
 Any of the members do not possess legal 2. Senators- SET
qualification and appointments
3. HoR- HRET
 Illegal proceeding of BOC
4. Autonomous region, provincial, city -
 proceeding is a sham or mere ceremony, pre comelec
determined and manipulated result as when
any of the following circumstances are 5. Muncipal- Rtc
present:
6. Brgy- MTC
 Precipitate canvassing
vi. Appeal
 Terrorism
1. Decision of MTC and RTC- appealable to
 Lack of sufficient notice to the members comelec
of the BOC
2. Decision of the comelec en banc t SC
 Improper venue
3. Decision of SET and HRET appealable to
 only in national election have preproc controversy. SC on certiorari if there was a grave
None in brgy election abuse of discretion

 Pendency of preproc controversy shall suspend the vii. If the protestee has resigned or accepted an
running period to file election protest appointment, the protest should continue
para malaman kung sino ang tunay nanalo

viii. If protestee died, protest continues and he

3. Petition to annul proclamation should be substituted by his successors (If for
mayor, and the mayor dies, he should be
 Preproc controvesy discovered only after proclamation
substituted by the vice mayor)
 Na proclaim yung candidato but the grounds for
ix. If protestant died, substituted by pubic official
preproc cotroversy was discovered only after the
who would have succceeded him (protestant
proclamation
is tha mayir whi dies, substituted by the vice
mayor bcus if the protest wins, vm will be
mayor)
4. Election contest

a) ELection protest- execution pending appeal

 Execution pending appeal may be ordered on the basis
of the combination of 2 or more of the ff

 Public interest or will of the people

  Shortness of the remaining portion of the term of
the the contested office
 Lenght of time that the election contest has been
pending
 Filing of bond are good reasons for ordering
execution pending appeal in favor of the
protestant
b) Quo warranto
 Petition to disqualify an elective official unde
OEC, you question the qualfication of the
winning candidate (ineligibilty) or disloyalty to
the republic
 Who may file: Any registered voter in the
constituency
 Issue: qualification or lack thereof of the
winning candidate
 Jurisdiction: Same with election protest (Mtc-
rtc-comelec-Sc/ set- sc etc)
 Appeal: same with election protest
 If the respondent is ousted, the petitioner will
not be seated
 MR in election contest is allowed on the ground that
evidence is insufficient or decission is contrary to law
 Except in Mun and brgy
 Filed within 5 days from promulgation
5. eLection offense
 Criminal cases committed during election period
 Jurisdicton: power to investigate and prosecute lies
with the comelec or duly authorized legal officer
(concurrent with other prosecuting arms of the
government)- RA9369 - DOJ/ Ombudsman
 Try and decide the case: RTC regardless of the penalty
 Prescription of the offense: 5 yrs from commission of
the offense
 If discover in an election contest(protest/ quo
warranto)- 5 yrs when the judgment becomes final
and executory (parang fresh period of 5 yrs)
1. Vote buying
a) Any person who is guilty and willing to testifies
shall be exempt from prosecution
2. Conspiracy to bribe voters
3. Wagering upon the result of election
4. Threats, terrorism, intimidation, use of fraudulent device
or other forms of coercion
5. Coercion of election officials and employees
6. Appoitment of new employees
7. Transfer of govt employees
8. Undlue influence
9. Unlawfula electioneering
10. Carrying firearm during election period
- including airsoft guns and airguns are reasonable
restriction, objective of which is to ensure free, orderly,
honest and peaceful and credible election
- excludes: replicas and imitation of airsoft gun and
airguns bcus they are not subject to any regulation
11. Carrying deadly weapons in precinct
12. Unathorized entry into polling places
13. Dispursemebt of expenditure of public funds
- Any public official or employee, including bry officials
and those GOCC and their subsidaries, who during 45
days before a regular election and 30 days before
special election, releases, disburses or expend any
public funds for:
A. Any and all kinds of public works (bawal amg release
g pera pambayd sa kahit anong public works)
a) Exceptions on the public works:
i. Maintenance of existing public works
ii. Public bidding prior to 45 days shall continue
iii. Cost for preparation preparatory to actual
construction
iv. Emergeny work by occurrence of calamity and
limited only to the restoration of the
damaged facilities (ex: covid)
Prohibited 45 days before elections
14. Appointment or hiring of new employees, creation or
filling up new positions, promotion or gving of salary
increases, remuneration or privilege
15. Construction of public works, delivery of materials for
public works and issuance of treasury warrants or similar
devices for a future undertaking chargeable against public
funds
- Issuance of treasur warrant is prohibited even if it is
not in payment of the contruction of public works
16. Release disbursement or expenditures of public funds
17. Illegal release of prissoner before and after election
18. Double registrants

- a registered voter, registers anew without filing an

application for cancellation of previous registration

 Penalty: 1- 6yrs without probation + disqualification to

hold public office and deprivation of the right to vote

Electoral sabotage

 Special elction offense

 Any person or mem of BOEI or BOC who tampers,

increases or decreases the votes recieved by a
candidate (dagdag- bawas)

 Refuse after proper verfication and hearing, to

credit the correct votes or deduct such tampered
votes

 In national election, you made the lossing

candidate appears to be th winner regardless of
the number of votes

 More than 5k- 10k votes ang dinagdag or binawas

 Penalty of life imprisonment