Case Digest (G.R. No. 9158)
Facts:
Ramon Hontiveros v. Jose Altavas, G.R. No. 9158, December 29, 1913, the Supreme Court En Banc, Carson, J., writing for the Court.
The dispute arose from the June 4, 1912 election for Governor of the Province of Capiz. The provincial canvassing board announced Jose Altavas (appellant) the winner by a majority of 171 votes (3,542 for Altavas; 3,371 for Ramon Hontiveros, petitioner/appellee). Hontiveros filed a protest and the matter was tried in the Court of First Instance of Capiz as a contested election proceeding.
After a recount in the trial court, the judge found a different tally: 3,274 votes for Hontiveros and 3,111 for Altavas, and adjudged Hontiveros to have a majority of 163 votes. The trial court’s ruling turned significantly on its rejection of 235 ballots from the Dumarao precinct that had been counted by the provincial board for Altavas but were disallowed on recount.
At Dumarao 402 votes were cast: the canvassing board had recorded 235 for Altavas and 167 for Hontiveros. When ballot boxes were opened in the court below, every ballot originally counted for Altavas bore some mark while none of Hontiveros’s ballots showed any mark. The core factual dispute at trial — and on appeal — was whether the marks on the Altavas ballots had been placed by the voters (or with their authority) before deposit into the ballot box, or whether they were placed afterward by some person or persons maliciously to invalidate the ballots on recount.
The Supreme Court reviewed the record, focused on the Dumarao ballots, and concluded that the trial court erred in rejecting the 235 marked ballots; finding by a clear preponderance that the marks had been placed after casting and without voter consent, maliciously intended to invalidate the votes. The Court reversed the judgment of the Court of First Instance and directed that the 235 votes be counted for Altavas. Arellano, C.J., and Torres, J.,...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the trial court err in rejecting the 235 ballots from the Dumarao precinct that the provincial canvassing board had counted for Altavas?
- Were the marks on the Dumarao ballots placed by the voters (or with their authority) before deposit, or were they placed afterwards without the voters’ knowledge and therefore insufficient ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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