13" CONGRESS 
OF 
First Regular 
EXPLANATORY 
NOTE 
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The May 2004 elections highlighted the disadvantages of a manual system of 
election; from the process o f  voting to canvassing of the results of the elections. The 
nation braced itself as it witnessed one of the slowest canvassing of the results of the 
elections in the annals of history. It was readily apparent that the nation would stand to 
benefit from an Automated Election System. 
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OF THE REPUBLIC 
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THE PHILPPINES 
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Session 
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S E N A T E  
2371 
S. Bill. No. 
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This bill proposes to amend RA 8436 by providing for the use of an automated 
system for the process of voting, counting of votes and canvassing, including the 
consolidation of election results. 
The proposal likewise seeks to provide flexibility in the execution of the 
Automated Election System, considering the budgetary constraints, manpower 
requirements, logistics and peace and order situation and various other constraints. The 
end desired is to assure the general public of the reliability and credibility of the electoral 
process in the country. 
The areas that would benefit the most from an Automated Election System are 
areas with a heavy concentration of voters as may be determined by the COMELEC, after 
taking into consideration other factors such as the adequacy and security of the automated 
counting machines. In all other areas that are not to be covered by an automated system, 
the bill provides; that the elections for both national and local positions shall be done 
manually. 


Introduced by Senator Ralph G. Recto 
AN ACT 
TO AMEND CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8436, 
ENTITLED, “AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS 
TO USE AN AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM IN THE MAY 11, 1998 
NATIONAL ORlLOCAL ELECTIONS AND IN SUBSEQUENT NATIONAL AND 
LOCAL ELECTORAL EXERCISES, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREOF AND FOR 
OTHER PURPdSES” 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of the Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
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follows: 
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terms shall mean: 
SECTION 
1. 
Section 2 of Republic Act No. 8436 is hereby amended to read as 
“Section 2. 
Definition of Terms. -As used in this Act, the following 
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2. 
Counting machine - aNY machine OR TECHNOLOGY that 
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AUTOMATES THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF THE ELECTORAL 
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PROCESS, AND 
CAN HANDLE THE 
CASTING, 
COUNTING, 
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CANVAS~INGICONSOLIDATION 
AND TRANSMISSION OF VOTES, 
WHERE POSSIBLE [uses an optical scanning mark-sense reading device of any 
similar advanced technology to count ballots]; 
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3. 
Datastoragedevice- a 
device 
OR 
MEDIUM 
used 
to 
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electronically store counting and canvassing results, such as, BUT NOT 
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LIMITED TO, memory pack, [or] diskette, CDROMS, OPTICAL DISKS, OR 
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ANY SUCH SIMILAR DEVICE; 
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5. 
National ballot - refers to the ballot [to be used in the automated 
election system for the purpose of the May 11, 1998 elections. This shall] 
containING the names to the candidates VOTED ON for THE POSITIONS OF 
president,' vice-president, senators and parties, organizations or coalitions 
participating under the party-list system INDICATING THE CHOICES OF 
THE VOTER TO BE USED EITHER FOR PURPOSES OF COUNTING 
OR AS PROOF OF VOTES ALREADY CAST; [This ballot shall be counted 
by the counting machine] 
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Local ballot -refers to the ballot [on which the voter will manually 
write] CONTAINING the names of the candidates [of hisiher choice] VOTED 
ON BY A VOTER FOR THE POSITIONS OF [for] members of the House of 
Representatives, governor, vice-governor, members of the provincial board, 
mayor, vice-mayor, and members of the city / municipal council INDICATING 
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THE CHOICES OF THE VOTER TO BE USED EITHER FOR PURPOSES 
OF COUNTING OR AS PROOF OF VOTES ALREADY CAST; [For the 
purpose of the May 11, 1998 elections, the ballot will be counted manually] 
WHENEVER FEASIBLE, THE VOTES REFLECTED IN THESE 
BALLOTS MAY ALSO BE COUNTED USING THE MACHINES; 
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Board of Election Inspectors - there shall be a Board of Election 
Inspectors ,in every precinct composed of three (3) regular members who shall 
conduct the voting, counting and recording of votes in the polling place. 
[For purpose of the May 11, 1998 elections,] T[t]here shall be a special 
member composed of a fourth member in each precinct and a COMELEC 
representative who is authorized to operate the counting machine. Both shall 
conduct the counting, and recording of votes of the national ballots in designated 
counting centers. 
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SEC. 2. Section 5 of Republic Act No. 8436 is hereby amended to read as follows: 
“Section 5. 
Board of Canvassers. - [For purposes of the May 11, 1998 
elections,] E[e]ach province, city or municipality shall have two (2) board of 
canvassers, one for the [manual] elections system under the existing law] 
NATIONAL BALLOT, and the other, for the [automated system] LOCAL 
BALLOT. For the [automated system] NATIONAL BALLOT, the chairman of 
the board shall be appointed by the Commission from among its 
personneUdeputies and the members from the officials enumerated under Section 
21 of Republic Act No. 6646. 
SEC. 3. Section 6 of Republic Act No. 8436 is hereby amended to read as follows: 
“Section 6. 
Authority to use an automated elections system. - To carry 
out the above-stated policy, the Commission on Elections, herein referred to as 
the Commission, is hereby authorized to use an automated elections system, and 
hereinafter’ referred to as the System, for the process o f  voting, counting o f  votes 
and canva?sing /consolidation AND TRANSMISSION OF results of the national 
and local Jlections, WHERE FEASIBLE [: Provided, however, That for the May 
11, 1998 elections, the System shall be applicable in all areas within the country 
only for ‘the positions of president, vice-president, , senators and parties, 
organizations or coalitions participating under the party-list system.] 
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To achieve the purpose of this Act, the Commission is authorized to 
procure by purchase, lease or otherwise any supplies, equipment, materials and 
services needed for the holding of the elections by an expedited process of public 
bidding by vendors, suppliers or lessors: Provided, that the accredited political 
parties are duly notified of and allowed to observed but not participate in the 
building. If, inspite of [its] diligent efforts to implement this mandate in the 
exercise of this authority, it becomes evident [by February 9, 19981 that the 
Commission cannot fully implement the automated election system [for national 
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positions in the May 11, 1998 elections,] THE COMMISSION IS HEREBY 
AUTHORIZED TO DETERMINE WHERE TO IMPLEMENT THE 
SYSTEM THROUGH MODULAR APPROACH ON A PHASE BY PHASE 
BASIS, INCLUDING THE OPTION OF IMPLEMENTING IT ON A 
MANUAL BASIS [, the elections for both national and local positions, shall be 
done manually, except in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (AJUMM) 
where the automated elections system shall be used for all positions]’ 
SEC. 4. 
Section 7 of Republic Act No. 8436 is hereby amended to read as 
.ows: 
“Set. 7. 
Features of the system. - The system shall utilize 
appropriate technology for voting, and electronic devices for counting of votes 
and canvassing of results. For this purpose, the Commission shall acquire BY 
PURCHASE, LEASE OR OTHERWISE automated counting machines, 
computer equipment, devices and materials and adopt new fornis and printing 
materials WHENEVER NECESSARY. 
The system shall contain the following features: (a) use ‘of appropriate 
ballots, PdEFERABLY MADE FROM LOCALLY PRODUCED PAPER, (b) 
stand-alone machine which can count votes and an automated system which can 
STORE, yonsolidate [the] AND EXPEDITIOUSLY PRINT ELECTION 
results [immediately], (c) with provisions for audit trails, (d) minimum human 
intervention, (and] (e) adequate safeguard measures, AND (Q MUST BE ABLE 
TO DETECT FAKE, COUNTERFEIT AND PREVIUOSLY COUNTED 
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BALLOTS. 
[In addition, the System shall, as far as practicable, have the following 
features: 
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It must be user-friendly and need not require computer-literate 
operators; 
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The System must have a printer that has the capacity to print in one 
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The machine security must be built-in and multi-layer existent on 
hardware and software with minimum humaa intervention using 
the latest technology, like encrypted coding system; 
The security key control must be embedded inside the machine 
sealed against human intervention; 
The Optical Mark Reader (OMR) must have a built-in printer for 
numbering the counted ballots and also for printing the individual 
precinct number on the counted ballots; 
The ballot paper for the OMR counting machines must be of the 
quality that passed the international standard like ISO-1831, JIS-X- 
9004 or its equivalent for optical character recognition; 
The ballot feeder must be automatic; 
The machine must be able to count from 100 to 150 ballots per 
minute; 
The counting machine must be able to detect fake or counterfeit 
ballots and must have a fake ballots rejector; 
The counting machine must be able to detect and reject previously 
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PROVISIONS 
OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9184 ARE 
FAITHFULLY COMPLIED WITH. 
The machine must have also a built-in hard disk to store the 
counted and consolidated data for future printout and verification; 
The counting machine must be temperature-resistant and rustproof; 
The optical lens of the OMR must have a self-cleaning device; 
The machine must not he capable of being connected to external 
computer peripherals for the process of vote consolidation; 
The machihe must have an Uninterrupted Power Supply OJPS); 
The machine must be accompanied with operating manuals that 
will guide the personnel of the Commission the proper use and 
maintenance of the machine; 
It must be so designed and built that add-ons may immediately be 
incorporated into the System at minimum expense; 
It must provide the shortest time needed to complete the counting 
of votes and canvassing of the results of the election; 
The machine must be able to generate consolidated reports like the 
election return, statement of votes and certificate of canvass at 
different levels; and, 
The accuracy of the count must he guaranteed; the margin of error 
must be disclosed and backed by warranty,under such terms and 
conditions, as may be determined by the Commission.] 
In the procurement of this system, the Commission shall, [adopt an 
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filled] NAMES AND POSITIONS OF THE CANDIDATES THAT HAVE 
BEEN VOTED UPON, and /or the propositions to be voted upon in an initiative, 
referendum or plebiscite. [Under each position,] T[t]he names of candidates 
VOTED UPON shall be 
arranged [alphabetically by surname and] 
ACCORDING TO POSITION, FROM PRESIDENT, VICE-PRESIDENT, 
SENATORS AND PARTY-LIST FOR NATIONAL, ELECTIONS, TO 
VICE-GJVERNOR, PROVINCIAL COUNCIL FOR LOCAL ELECTIONS 
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MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, GOVERNOR, 
uniformly brinted using the same type size. A fixed space where the chairman of 
the Board of Elections Inspectors shall affix hisher signature to authenticate the 
official ballot shall he provided. 
SEC. 6. If any provision of this Act is held unconstitutional or invalid, all other 
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provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid. 
SEC. 7. All laws, decrees, order, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent 
with this Act are hereby amended or modified accordingly. 
SEC. 8. This Act shall take effect fifteen days after its publication in at least two 
(2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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