Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session INDEX Co

7063

House Bill No.

Introduced by
SENIOR CITIZENS Party-List REP. FRANCISCO G. DATOL, JR. and
REP. FERDINAND MARTIN G. ROMUALDEZ

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The right of suffrage under Section 1, Article V of the 1987 Philippine Constitution is one
of the most heavily guarded right of Filipinos. Jurisprudence is replete with examples of
how our society has proscribed any actual or constructive restraint against the exercise
of the right of suffrage to prevent disenfranchisement of voters.

In People v San Juan,’ then Justice Castro opined that the “ight of suffrage must remain
undefiled at the starting level of its expression and application, every assumption must
be indulged in and every guarantee adopted to assure the unmolested exercise of the
citizen's free choice. For to impede, without authority valid in law, the free and orderly
exercise of the right of suffrage is to inflict the ultimate indignity on the democratic
process."

Accordingly, a crucial element in the exercise of one’s right of suffrage is one’s
registration as a voter since in our jurisdiction non-registration will prevent one from
exercising their right of suffrage. Thus, the government must ensure an enabling
environment for people to register as voters.

* People v. San Juan, G.R. No. L-22944, February 10, 1968.

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However, the Coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19") has brought numerous obstacles
over the efforts of the Commission on Elections ("COMELEC") to secure voter's
registration. Public health considerations and existing protocols have led to the
COMELEC's suspension of its physical voter registration efforts.

With no immediate end for the COVID-19 pandemic in sight, it is believed that rather
than wait for the pandemic to end, the COMELEC should be pro-active and adopt
innovative measures, such as online voter's registration, to facilitate voter's registration
during the COVID-19 pandemic and for it continually fulfil its mandate of protecting the
Filipinos right of suffrage.

By adopting a system for online voter's registration, we do not just make our electoral
system more resilient to unexpected calamities such as the COVID-19 pandemic but we
also create a system that provides the Filipino electorate and our government an
efficient, convenient, and cost-effective mechanism for voter's registration in the long
term?

Thus, as our country nears the date of the next election and as it continues to grapple
with the uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes
indispensable for our government to innovate the means by which voter's registration is
conducted in our country.

In view of this, the passage of the bill is sought.

HON. FERDINAND [6 (ROMUAUDEZ
Representative
First District of Leyte

2 The Pew Charitable Trusts (2015), Online Voter Registration: Trends in development and
implementation, retrieved from
https://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/Assets/2015/05/OVR_2015_brief.pdf?la=en on 06 July 2020.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

7063

House Bill No.

Introduced by
SENIOR CITIZENS Party-List REP. FRANCISCO G. DATOL, JR. and
REP. FERDINAND MARTIN G. ROMUALDEZ

AN ACT ADOPTING A SYSTEM OF ONLINE REGISTRATION OF VOTERS,
AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE SECTION 8 AND 10 OF REPUBLIC ACT (R.A.)
NO. 8184, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “THE VOTER’S REGISTRATION ACT
OF 1996”

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

Section 1. Section 8 of R.A. No. 8184, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 8. System of Continuing Registration of Voters. - The personal
oF electronic filing of application of registration of voters shall be conducted
daily in the office of the Election Officer during regular office hours or through
the official website for such purpose as designated by the Commission. No
registration shall, however, be conducted during the period starting one
hundred twenty (120) days before a regular election and ninety (90) days
before a special election.”

Section 2. Section 10 of R.A. No. 8184, is hereby amended to read as follows:


“Sec. 10. Registration of Voters. - A qualified voter shall be registered in
the permanent list of voters in a precinct of the city or municipality wherein
he resides to be able to vote in any election. To register as a voter, he shall
personally or electronically accomplish an application form for registration as
prescribed by the Commission in three (3) copies before the Election Officer
on any date during office hours or through the official website for such
purpose _as designated by the Commission after having acquired the
qualifications of a voter.
The application shall contain the following data:

a. Name, surname, middle name, and/or maternal surname;
Sex;
. Date, and place of birth;
|. Citizenship;
. Civil status, if married, name of spouse;
Profession, occupation or work
|. Periods of residence in the Philippines and in the place of registration;

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. Exact address with the name of the street and house number for
location in the precinct maps maintained by the local office of the
Commission, or in case there is none, a brief description of his
residence, sitio, and barangay;

i. A statement that the applicant possesses all the qualifications of a

voter;

j. Astatement that the applicant is not a registered voter of any precinct;

and

i

. Such information or data as may be required by the Commission.

The application for registration shall contain three (3) specimen signatures
of the applicant, clear and legible rolled prints of his left and right
thumbprints, with four (4) identification size copies of his latest photograph,
submitted personally or through electronic means, attached thereto, to be
taken at the expense of the Commission.

Before the applicant accomplishes his application for registration, the
Election Officer shall personally or electronically inform him of the
qualifications and disqualifications prescribed by law for a voter, and


thereafter, see to it that the accomplished application contains all the data
therein required and that the applicant's specimen signatures, fingerprints,
and photographs are properly affixed in all copies of the voter's application.

In_case of online submission of a completed voter's registration by an
individual, the Commission shall send the individual a notice confirming the

Commission's receipt of the licatic viding instructions on how
the individual may check the status of the application.

Furthermore, the Commission shall employ security measures which are

necessary to ensure the accuracy and inteagrit call mi
voter registration applications”

Section 3. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within sixty (30) days from the
effectivity of this Act, the Commission on Elections, in consultation with Department of
Information and Communications Technology, Department of Science and Technology,
Department of Interior and Local Government, National Commission for Senior Citizens,
and other stakeholders shall promulgate the rules and regulations for the effective
implementation of this Act.

Section 4. Separability Clause. — If for any reason any section or provision of this Act is
held unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions hereof shall not be
affected thereby.

Section 5. Repealing Clause. ~ Section 8 and 10 of R.A. No. 8184, as amended is hereby
repealed. All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations, and other issuances
or parts thereof, that are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed
or modified accordingly.

Section 6. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in
the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved.