Watcher’s to do list…

1. VOTE STRAIGHT!
8. KUNG SAKALING MAY GUSTONG BUMOTO NA TAGA IBANG
BRGY. Captain: BARANGAY O DI KAYA’Y IBINOBOTO ANG PATAY NA, NARARAPAT
NA AGAD NINYO ITONG IPROTESTA AT IPAGBIGAY ALAM SA
Kagawad: COORDINATORS AT ILAGAY SA MINUTES.
OBLIGASYON NG WATCHER NA: 9. KUNG MAY KAHINAHINALANG KAGANAPAN, KAGULUHAN O
LANTARANG DAYAAN AY IPAGBIGAY ALAM ITO SA COORDINATORS
2. DUMATING SA PRESINTO NG ALAS 6 NG UMAGA.
UPANG MAKUHAAN NG PICTURE O VIDEO.
3. IPRISINTA SA GURO/BOARD OF ELECTION INSPECTOR (BEI) ANG
INYONG APPOINTMENT LETTER AT PUMIRMA SA MINUTES OF
KARAPATAN NG WATCHER NA:
VOTING.
10. MAGMASID SA MGA KAGANAPAN SA LOOB NG PRESINTO.
(ITO AY UPANG MAKILALA KAYO NG BEI AT PAYAGAN KAYONG
PUMASOK SA ROOM.) 11. SA ORAS NG BILANGAN AY PUMWESTO SA LIKOD NG GURO NA
NAGBABASA NG BOTO AT TINGNAN ANG BOARD KUNG SA TAMA
4. TIYAKIN NA WALANG LAMAN ANG BALLOT BOX BAGO SIMULAN
INILALAGAY ANG KARAMPATANG BOTO.
ANG BOTOHAN.
12. PUMIRMA AT MAG-THUMBMARK SA ELECTION RETURNS KUNG
(KAPAG MAY LAMAN ANG BALLOT BOX AY IPROTESTA ITO AT
WALANG DAYAAN NA NAGANAP.
IPAGBIGAY ALAM SA COORDINATORS)
13. MAGREQUEST NG CERTIFICATE OF VOTES SA GURO.
5. DAPAT AY SELYADO ANG MGA BALOTA AT TIYAKIN NA WALANG
SIGURADUHING PIRMADO ITO NG BEI. ANG CERTIFICATE OF VOTES
DAYAAN NA MAGAGANAP.
AY IBIBIGAY SA COORDINATOR PAGKATAPOS NG BILANGAN.
6. TIYAKIN NA ISINISIGAW NG GURO ANG PANGALAN NG BAWAT
BOBOTO UPANG MALAMAN KUNG TAGA BARANGAY ANG
BOTANTE.

7. TIYAKIN NA PAWANG MAY VOTER’S I.D. O SINUMANG NASA

COMPUTERIZED VOTER’S LIST LAMANG ANG MAKAKABOTO.
WATCHERS
OFFICIAL Watchers of candidates and other groups-
Every candidate for the Barangay and/or SK
elections shall each be entitled one (1) watcher in
every polling place or canvassing center.
Duly accredited citizens' arms of the Commission
shall be entitled to appoint a watcher in every
polling place or canvassing center. Other civic,
professional, business, service, youth, and any
other similar organization, with prior authority of
the Commission, shall be entitled collectively to
appoint one watcher in every polling place.
Preference shall be given to the watchers of the
citizens' arms and Punong Barangay/SK
Chairperson candidates, in case the space reserved
for watchers is not enough.
Citizens' arms already accredited during the May 9,
2022 National and Local Elections; need no longer
apply for accreditation for purposes of October 30,
2023 BSKE. However, they should file a
manifestation of intent to discharge the duties of
an accredited citizens' arm to the Commission En
Banc until June 2, 2023 or on such other dates as
may be fixed by the commission.
Qualifications of watchers. - No person shall be
appointed as watcher, unless said person:
 is a registered voter of the barangay or a
member of the Katipunan ng Kabataan, as
the case maybe, in the assigned barangay;
 is of good reputation;
 has not been convicted by final judgment of
any election offense or of any other crime;
 knows how to read and write Filipino,
English, or any of the prevailing local
dialect; and
 is not related within the fourth (4th) civil
degree of consanguinity or affinity to the
Chairperson or any EB members in the
polling place where the watcher seeks
appointment.
Incumbent Barangay Officials including Barangay
Tanods shall not be appointed as watchers of any
candidate or citizens' arms.
Rights and duties of a watcher. - Upon entering the
polling place, the watcher shall present to the EB
Chairperson a sworn appointment. The appointment
shall bear the signature of the candidate with a
statement that such person possesses all the
qualifications and none of the disqualifications as
watcher. For this purpose, at least fifteen (15) days
before election day, candidates shall provide the
EOs with a list of names and signatures of their
watchers. The Poll Clerk shall record the name of
the watcher in the Minutes with a notation under
the watcher's signature that said person is not
disqualified to serve as such.
The watchers shall have the right to:
 Stay in the space reserved for them inside the
polling place;
 Witness the proceedings of the EB;
 Take note of what they may see or hear;
 Take photographs of the proceedings and
incidents, if any, during the counting of votes,
as well as of the Election Returns (ERs), tally
board and ballot boxes;
 File a protest against any irregularity or
violation of law which they believe may have
been committed by any EB member or by any
person;
 Obtain from the EB a certificate as to the
filing of such protest and/or of the resolution
thereon;
 Have an unimpeded view of the ballot being
read by the Chairperson, the election returns
(CEF No. 9) and the tally board (CEF No.10)
being simultaneously accomplished by the
Poll Clerk and the Third Member respectively,
without touching any of these election
documents; and
 Be furnished, upon request, with Certificate of
Votes (CEF No.13), duly signed and thumb-
marked by the Chairperson and all EB
members.
Watchers shall not speak to any EB member, or to
any voter, or among themselves, in such a manner
as would disturb the EB proceedings.
Appreciation of ballots. - In the appreciation of the
ballots, every ballot shall be presumed valid unless
there is clear and good reason to justify its
rejection.
Any question on the appreciation of ballots shall be
decided by a majority of the EB members.
No watcher, candidate, or any other person inside
the polling place shall be allowed to participate in
the appreciation of ballots, except that any
watcher may file a protest which shall be recorded
in the Minutes.
The EB shall observe the following rules for the
appreciation of ballots as provided for in Section
211 of BP Blg. 881, bearing in mind that the
objective of the election is to obtain the expression
of the voters' will:
"(a) Where only the first name or surname of a
candidate 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;
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 (2) 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;
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;
When two (2) or more words are written on the
same line on the ballot, all of which are the
surnames of two (2) 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 (1) year, in which case it shall be counted
in favor of the latter;
When two (2) or more words are written on different
lines on the ballot, all of which are surnames of two
(2) 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;
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;
(1) When two (2) words are written on the ballot,
one of which is the first name of a candidate and
the other is the surname of his opponent, the vote
shall not be counted for either one;
(9) 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 favor of such candidate;
Equity of the incumbent rule
Idem sonans
Idem sonans is a legal doctrine whereby a person's
identity is presumed known despite the misspelling
of his or her name, if the misspelled name sounds
the same when pronounced. Such similar-sounding
words are called a homonym, while similar-
sounding phrases or names would be a holorime