General Voter Registration in the Philippines

Purpose and policy of voter lists

Presidential Decree No. 1187 establishes that an accurate and complete listing of all qualified voters is indispensable to free, orderly and honest elections, plebiscites and referenda.
The decree directs that a new and general registration is necessary to update the list of qualified voters throughout the Philippines.
The decree aims to obviate common election-day problems, including locating the place of voting and identifying oneself as a voter.

General registration requirement

Section 1 requires a general registration of all qualified voters in all voting centers throughout the Philippines on the date or dates to be fixed by law.
Section 1 limits the registration schedule by requiring that the dates shall not be later than the end of October, 1977.
Section 3 mandates that a qualified voter must be duly registered to cast a vote in any election, plebiscite, or referendum.

Permanent and continuing registration option

Section 2 preserves the permanent and continuing system of registration under Presidential Decree No. 1099 (dated February 25, 1977).
Section 2 allows any qualified voter to register under the permanent and continuing system notwithstanding the general registration mandated by this decree.

Who may register and eligibility rules

Section 4 allows any Filipino citizen who is eighteen years of age or over, not otherwise disqualified by law, to register.
Section 4 requires residency: at least one year in the Philippines and at least six months immediately preceding the election in the city, municipality or municipal district where he proposes to vote.
Section 4 permits illiterate persons and physically unable persons to register: they may register in the manner hereinafter prescribed.
Section 13 provides the procedure for illiterate or disabled applicants: they appear before the committee with a person of confidence (preferably a relative by affirmity or sanguinity within the fourth civil degree) who prepares the application using the applicant’s data.
Section 13 requires illiterate or disabled applicants to affix the thumbmarks of his left and right hands in the presence of the citizens election committee.

Disqualifications from registering

Section 5(a) disqualifies any person sentenced by final judgment to suffer imprisonment for not less than one year, if the disability has not been removed by plenary pardon.
Section 5(a) grants automatic reacquisition of the right to vote upon expiration of ten years after service of sentence, unless during that ten-year period the person is again sentenced by final judgment to suffer imprisonment of not less than one year.
Section 5(b) disqualifies persons adjudged by final judgment to have violated their oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines.
Section 5(c) disqualifies insane or feeble-minded persons.
Section 5(d) disqualifies persons suffering temporary special disqualifications from exercising the right of suffrage under existing law.

Registration committee structure and qualifications

Section 6 requires the Commission to appoint, directly or through duly authorized representatives, a citizen registration committee for each voting center.
Section 6 mandates appointment at least ten days before the registration day.
Section 6 requires each citizen registration committee to include a chairman, a poll clerk, and a third member.
Section 6 requires the chairman and poll clerk to be public school teachers.
Section 6 requires the third member to be a member of the barangay council, proposed by the barangay captain.
Section 7 bars appointment or acting as committee member unless the person is of good moral character and irreproachable reputation and is a qualified voter of the municipality.
Section 7 bars appointment unless the person has never been convicted of any election offense or any other crime punishable by more than six months of imprisonment, and bars service if there is a pending case on information for any election offense.
Section 7 requires that the member know how to speak and write English or the local dialect.

Committee powers and voter center venue

Section 8 authorizes the citizens registration committee to undertake the registration of voters as authorized in the decree.
Section 8 makes the committee deputies of the Commission for supervision and control of registration to assure it is free, orderly and honest.
Section 8 obligates the committee to perform other functions prescribed by the decree or Commission rules.
Section 9 requires using voting centers that functioned during the referendum-plebiscite of October 1976 for voter registration, subject to establishment of new centers and transfer, merger, or splitting of existing ones.
Section 10 allows the Commission to authorize new voting centers where there are no existing voting centers and at least two hundred voters exist.
Section 10 directs locating new centers, as far as practicable, in public school buildings or other public buildings, after consultation with local officials and other persons concerned.
Section 10 requires communication of new centers to the Division Superintendent of Schools and the Provincial Election Supervisor so election committee members may be appointed.

Application process and registration statements

Section 11 requires every applicant to personally appear before the citizens election committee in the voting center nearest his place of residence.
Section 11 requires the applicant to take an oath before the committee and to sign and affix the imprint of the thumb of his right and left hands to a statement in triplicate.
Section 11 requires the sworn statement to include:
- Name, Surname, and middle maternal surname;
- Date and place of birth;
- Citizenship;
- Sector, if any;
- Periods of residence in the Philippines and in the place of registration;
- Exact address (street name and house number, or a brief description if none);
- A statement that the applicant possesses all voter qualifications and is not legally disqualified; and
- A statement that the applicant has not applied for registration with the election registrar or in any other voting center.
Section 12 allows the Commission, whenever practicable, to authorize delivery to voting centers of voters’ affidavits from the City or Municipal File for validation and entry in the voters list whenever warranted.

Identification, approval, and certificate of registration

Section 14 provides that if the applicant is not known to committee members, any voter of the barangay may identify the applicant or the applicant may show a paper or document showing identity.
Section 15 requires the committee to approve the sworn application if it finds voter qualifications and no voter disqualifications.
Section 15 requires issuance of a certificate of registration upon approval.
Section 15 requires disapproval if the applicant lacks qualifications or has any voter disqualification.
Section 16 provides that a voter’s certificate of registration serves as identification of the registered voter.
Section 16 states that a voter shall not be required to present the certificate on election, plebiscite or referendum day if identity is shown by other records or fingerprints in the approved application in the precinct book, or if identified under oath by a member of the election committee or by a duly accredited watcher.
Section 16 allows a previously registered voter (under Section 2) to be issued a certificate of registration upon request by the election registrar concerned.
Section 16 prohibits preparing and issuing any extra copy or duplicate of the certificate of registration except upon authority of the Commission.

Challenge procedure and rapid decision

Section 17 permits any applicant to be challenged before the citizens election committee on any registration day by any committee member, watcher, or any member of the barangay concerned.
Section 17 requires the committee to examine the challenged person and receive other evidence it deems pertinent.
Section 17 mandates immediate action: the committee decides whether the applicant shall be registered or not.
Section 17 requires all challenges to be heard and decided without delay and within one hour after receiving the evidence.
Section 17 requires the committee to inform the concerned persons of its action.

Preparing and closing the voters list

Section 18 requires the citizens election committee, after every registration meeting, to prepare an alphabetical list of voters in triplicate based on approved applications.
Section 18 requires the list to have six columns containing, respectively:
- A registration number opposite each voter name starting with number one and continuing consecutively;
- Surnames in alphabetical order followed by christians/first names with no abbreviations;
- Residence with street name and house number, or a brief description if none;
- The ballot number given to the voter on election day;
- The voter’s right thumbmark on election day with the voter’s signature under said mark; and
- The signature of the committee member who handed the ballot.
Section 18 imposes a duty on the election committee to ensure the thumbmark is stamped plainly.
Section 18 requires the election registrar to deliver all approved applications under his custody for the voting center to the proper citizens election committee for inclusion in the list on the first registration day.
Section 19 requires the election committee, upon adjournment of each meeting, to close each alphabetical group by writing the date on the next line in blank and having each member sign.
Section 19 requires that before adding a new name on the same page at the next meeting, the committee write: “Added at the...meeting,” specifying whether it is the second, third or fourth meeting, and stating the date.
Section 19 requires, if the meeting adjourned is the last for registration, additions at the end of the list consisting of:
- A certification of corrections and cancellations specifying them or stating none; and
- Certification of the total number of voters registered in the voting center.

Distribution, backups, and record preservation

Section 20 requires immediate distribution once lists are completed and duly certified:
- One copy to the election registrar concerned; and
- One copy to the Provincial Election Supervisor, whose offices must keep the lists open to public inspection during regular office hours.
Section 20 provides that if the copy in the custody of the chairman is lost or destroyed, the list of voters in the custody of the election registrar is used on election day.
Section 21 requires the original of each voter’s application to be delivered to the election registrar to be compiled and incorporated alphabetically into the book of voters to be cancelled the municipal file.
Section 21 requires the duplicate to be sent the day following approval to the office of the provincial election supervisor for inclusion in the provincial file in accordance with Section 127 of Republic Act 6388.
Section 21 requires the triplicate to be delivered to the election registrar for transmittal to the national central file in the Commission pursuant to Section 128 of Republic Act 6388.
Section 21 requires that all copies of disapproved applications be sent to the election registrar for placement in the inactive file.

Watchers and lawful assistance

Section 22 permits civic, religious, youth, farmers, labor, veterans, women’s, professional, service and similar organizations to designate one watcher each per registration center by written authority.
Section 22 requires the organizations to notify the Election Registrar concerned of the designation.
Section 22 grants watchers the right to stay in their reserved space to observe proceedings and take notes of what they see or hear.
Section 22 allows watchers to file a protest against any irregularity they believe has been committed.
Section 22 grants watchers the right to obtain from the poll clerk or secretary a certificate as to filing of the protest and the committee’s resolution.
Section 22 prohibits watchers from speaking to members of the registration committee or to voters, or among themselves, in a manner that interrupts or disturbs proceedings.
Section 23 requires barangays and specified organizations to extend assistance to the Commission to make all qualified voters register, singly or in concert under the over-all coordination of the Citizen’s National Committee on Referenda, Plebiscites and Elections (CINACOR).

Inclusion/exclusion of voters; timing limits

Section 24 keeps Republic Act 6388 rules on inclusion and exclusion of voters in full force and effect and applies them to voter registration under this decree.
Section 24 requires that petitions for inclusion or exclusion be filed not later than ten days after the last day of registration of voters.
Section 24 further requires that such petitions be filed in no case later than five days before the day of any election, plebiscite, or referendum.

Offenses, court jurisdiction, and prosecution

Section 25 provides that offenses enumerated in the Election Code of 1971 and other related statutes committed on the occasion of, or in connection with, registration under this decree are punished and prosecuted in the same manner as those statutes.
Section 26 confers jurisdiction on City and Municipal courts to issue warrants of arrest and to try and decide any criminal action or proceeding for offenses under this decree.
Section 26 provides for appeal from these decisions as in other criminal cases.
Section 27 empowers the Commission on Elections through its duly authorized legal officers to conduct preliminary investigations and prosecute offenses before proper courts.

Commission powers and implementation controls

Section 28 gives the Commission on Election supervision and control over registration under this decree.
Section 28 authorizes the Commission to promulgate rules and regulations and prescribe forms necessary to implement the decree.
Section 28 authorizes procurement of supplies, equipment, motor vehicles, materials or services needed for the elections by negotiation or through sealed quotations if public bidding is impracticable to observe.
Section 28 authorizes hiring personnel under contractual basis if that method is more expedient and economical.
Section 28 authorizes, any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, compensation for its officials and employees (and those assigned thereto) for overtime services rendered on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and on scheduled rest days, or after required office hours on regular working days, at rates in accordance with existing laws.

Suppletory laws, appropriations, and repeal

Section 29 provides that provisions of Republic Act 6388, Presidential Decree No. 1099, and other pertinent statutes that are not inconsistent with this decree have suppletory force and effect.
Section 30 requires appropriations for the fund necessary to implement the decree under the law fixing the date or dates of registration.
Section 31 repeals, amends, or modifies all laws, decrees, rules and regulations, or parts thereof inconsistent with this decree.

Registration timeline anchor

Section 1 fixes the outer limit for general registration dates: not later than the end of October, 1977.