EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Second Regular Session )
SENATE 
S.B. No. 1870
;CE
E-FILED 
Oct 05 2020
US' ®
ul date: 
(P
2:15 p.m.
5 INDEX
Introduced by SENATOR IMEE R. MARCOS
AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A SYSTEM OF POSTAL VOTING 
BY SENIOR CITIZENS, PREGNANT WOMEN, PERSONS WITH 
DISABILITIES, AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Article V, Section 2 of the Constitution states that the "Congress shall provide a system 
for securing the secrecy and sanctity of the ballot as well as a system for absentee 
voting by qualified Filipinos abroad." Further the Constitution provides that "No 
literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise 
of suffrage." Corollary to the said mandate is the duty to design a system and 
procedure to ensure the wide participation during electoral exercises, plebiscite or 
referendum by senior citizens, pregnant women, persons with disabilities and 
indigenous peoples, who are deemed more vulnerable during pandemics and other 
national crises.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), COVID-19 is the infectious disease 
caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease was 
unknown before the global outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As 
of September 28, 2020, COVID-19 is now a global pandemic and the Philippines alone 
has recorded a total of 307,196 cases.
The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) has reported that one's risk of 
getting severely ill from COVID-19 increases as one gets older. In the United States, 
eight out of ten COVID-19 related deaths have been among adults aged 65 years and 
older. In the Philippines, as of August 30, 2020 data of the Department of Health, 
2,106 out of the 3,520 deaths related to COVID-19 were senior citizens.
Just like senior citizens, the CDC also mentioned that pregnancy might increase the 
risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
With no vaccine as of date, the public health situation in the country has underscored 
the need for electoral reform. There is an urgent need to institute measures such that 
the most vulnerable sectors of our society will be protected from COVID-19 while 
ensuring that their right to suffrage remains unimpeded by the present circumstances.


In addition and even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous public hearings and 
technical working group meetings conducted by the Senate Committee on Electoral 
Reforms and People's Participation have already discussed and recognized the plight 
of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and the indigenous peoples (IPs) in remote areas 
during election day due to inaccessibility of polling places.
Hence, when the need arises, senior citizens, pregnant women, PWDs, and IPs should 
be allowed to vote by mail.
In view of the foregoing, the passage of this measure is earnestly sought.
IMEE R. MARCOS


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Second Regular Session )
S.B,
SENATE 
[sjo. 1870
- - V
E-FILED -<*2111 
nil Tfrr . Oct 05 2020 mj
2:15 p.m.
Introduced by SENATOR IMEE R. MARCOS
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AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A SYSTEM OF POSTAL VOTING 
BY SENIOR CITIZENS, PREGNANT WOMEN, PERSONS WITH 
DISABILITIES, AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Voting by Mail Act."
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State shall ensure that senior citizens, 
pregnant women, persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples are able to exercise 
their right to political participation without restrictions. To this end, the State shall 
design systems and procedures that will enable them to vote via post.
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the term:
a. Commission refers to the Commission on Elections.
b. Postal voting refers to a mode of voting where mailing packets, containing the 
official ballots and other election paraphernalia, are sent directly to senior 
voters.
c. Senior Citizens refer to qualified voters who are sixty (60) years or older.
d. Persons with Disabilities refer to qualified voters who are suffering from 
restriction of different abilities, as a result of a mental, physical or sensory 
impairment, to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered 
normal for a human being;
e. Indigenous peoples refer to qualified voters belonging to a group of people or 
homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by others, who 
have continuously lived as organized community on communally bounded and 
defined territory, and who have, under claims of ownership since time 
immemorial, occupied, possessed and utilized such territories, sharing common 
bonds of language, customs, traditions and other distinctive cultural traits, or 
who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of 
colonization, non-indigenous religions and cultures, became historically


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differentiated from the majority of Filipinos. ICCs/IPs shall likewise include 
peoples who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the 
populations which inhabited the country, at the time of conquest or 
colonization, or at the time of inroads of non-indigenous religions and cultures, 
or the establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of 
their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions, but who may have 
been displaced from their traditional domains or who may have resettled 
outside their ancestral domains;
f. Authorized Witness refers to any family members of the voter eighteen (18) 
years old or above within third degree of consanguinity
SEC. 4. Coverage. - All registered voters who are senior citizens, pregnant 
women, persons with disabilities and indigenous people, who are not otherwise 
disqualified by law, may vote in the national and local elections via post.
SEC. 5. Registration to Vote Via Post. - Any senior citizen, pregnant woman, 
person with disabilities and indigenous people already registered to vote may register 
before the Commission to vote via post. Senior Citizens, pregnant women, persons 
with disabilities and indigenous peoples not yet registered to vote, and would like 
to exercise their right to vote via post can register as a voter and apply for postal 
voting at the same time.
The Commission shali design a registration system via post taking into 
consideration their limited movement due to health or physical restrictions. Application 
forms for registration to vote and for registration to vote via post shall be made 
available for download in the Commission's website and in all Barangay Halls.
SEC. 6. Record of Voters via Post - Voters who wish to cast and/or signify 
their intent to vote via post must first be registered to do so with the Commission. 
The Commission shall keep a record of senior citizens, pregnant women, person with 
disabilities and indigenous peoples who registered for postal voting and ensure it is 
updated for each election.
SEC. 7. Creation of Speciai Baiiot Reception and Custody Group. - The 
Commission shall establish the Special Ballot Reception and Custody Group (SBRCG), 
to be composes of a Chairman and four (4) members to be appointed by the 
Commission.
SEC. 8. Functions of the Speciai Baiiot Reception and Custody Group. - The 
SBRCG shall perform the following duties and functions:


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a. 
Receive from the Commission all accountable and non-accountable election 
forms, supplied and paraphernalia to be used in postal voting, counting, and 
canvassing;
b. 
Verity the quantity and serial numbers of all ballots, ballot envelop, and paper 
seals;
c. 
Facilitate the sending and receiving of verified mailing packets to registered 
postal voters;
SEC. 9. Dispatch of Postal Voting Packets to Registered Postal Voters. - 
The Commission shall send, not later than forty-five (45) days before the scheduled 
national or local elections, the sealed mailing packet containing the following:
a. The official ballot;
b. Certified List of Candidates;
c. 
Instruction to Voters;
d. Official Ballot Envelope; and
e. Paper Seals.
The Commission, in designing the mailing packets, the contents thereof, and 
the procedure for postal voting, must take all measures to prevent vote tampering, 
and ensure that ballots are tracked through mechanisms such as but not limited to 
serial numbered stubs during their delivery to the voter, reception, storage, and 
canvassing to ensure the integrity and sanctity of the ballots.
SEC. 10. Procedure for Postal Voting. - The following requirements for postal 
voting shall be observed:
a. The qualified voter must show the unsigned official ballot and the official ballot 
envelope to an authorized witness as defined in this Act;
b. The quaiified voter must then, in the presence of the authorized witness but so 
that the witness cannot see the vote, accomplish personalty the ballot by writing 
the names of the candidates and the name or acronym of the party-list group 
participating in the party list system of choice;
c. The qualified voter must affix his or her signature in the ballot coupon which is 
located on the lower portion of the official ballot;
d. The voter shall fold the official ballot, place it in the official ballot envelope and 
the voter and authorized witness shail write their names and affix their 
signatures on the flap of the envelope. Failure to write their names and affix 
their signatures shall Invalidate the ballot;
e. Return the sealed ballot envelope to the Commission using the return to sender 
slip included in the mailing packet in accordance with the terms agreed between 
the Commission and the winning bidder private courier;


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f. Only the ballots received by the Commission fifteen (15) working days prior to 
the scheduled election day shall be counted. All envelopes containing the ballots 
received by the Commission after the prescribed period shall not be opened 
and shall be cancelled and disposed of appropriateiy, with a corresponding 
report which shall be publicized not later than thirty (30) days from the day of 
elections.
SEC. 11. Ballot Receipt - The Commission shall provide the necessary 
safeguards and confirmation procedures including the provision of ballot receipts to 
senior citizens, pregnant women, person with disabiiities and indigenous peoples who 
voted via mail. If a qualified voter via mail fails to receive a ballot receipt prior to the 
scheduled election day, the voter shali be allowed to vote in person during the day of 
election.
SEC. 12. Authority of the Commission to Promulgate Rules. - The Commission 
shaii issue the necessary rules and regulations to effectively implement the provisions 
of this Act within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act.
SEC. 13. Authority of the Commission to Allow Postal Voting. - The 
Commission shall have the authority to determine whether postal voting shali be 
allowed for any national or local elections. The determination shall be made within a 
period sufficient enough to prepare the necessary postai voting paraphernaiia and the 
bidding of the private courier.
SEC. 14. Reportoria! Requirements. - The Commission shali within one 
hundred (100) days after the conduct of the first postal voting report to the Congress 
its evaluation of the effectivity and ways to improve the conduct of the same.
SEC. 15. Applicability of Other Election Laws. - The pertinent provisions of the 
Omnibus Election Code, as amended, and other election laws, which are not in conflict 
with the provisions of this Act shall remain in full force and shall have suppletory 
application to this Act.
SEC. 16. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to carry out the provisions 
of this Act shall be included in the Generai Appropriations Act of the year of its 
enactment into law. Thereafter, the expenses for its continued implementation shall 
be included in the subsequent General Appropriations Act.
SEC. 17. Information Materials. - The Commission shall ensure that 
information materials relating to the postai electoral process are distributed and that 
the same be appropriate and accessible to senior citizens.


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SEC. 18. Separability Clause. - If any part or provision of this Act shall be 
declared unconstitutional or invalid, other provisions hereof which are not affected 
thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.
SEC. 19. Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, 
rules and regulations, other issuances, and parts thereof, which are inconsistent with 
the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
SEC. 20. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its 
publication in three (3) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,