Resolution No. 8491 - Article VI

ARTICLE VI
PROCEDURES FOR VOTING, COUNTING,
CONSOLIDATION, AND TRANSMISSION OF VOTES FOR ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE (EVM)
(PROVINCE OF MAGUINDANAO)

SEC. 48. Preliminaries to the voting - The board shall meet at the polling place at six o'clock in the morning of election day and do the following:

1. Ensure that the seals of the EVM and its components and peripherals are intact;
2. Ensure that it has all the election forms, documents and supplies needed ; and
3. Post one copy of PCVL near or at the door of the polling place.
4. Before the voting begins, the chairman shall:
1. Open the ballot box, empty both of its compartments, exhibit them to all those present and lock its interior cover with three (3) padlocks. The members of the board shall each retain their respective keys to the padlocks during the voting;
2. Show to the public and to the watchers present the book of voters, duly sealed, and thereafter, break the seals. Enter in the Minutes the fact that the book of voters were shown to the public with the seals intact;
3. Enter in the Minutes the serial numbers of the EVM seals; and the assigned EVM serial numbers;
4. Break the seals of the EVM and show to the watchers and the public the EVM with its attached components and peripherals;
5. Check whether the machine and its components and peripherals are complete according to the checklist found inside the EVM carrying case;
6. Retrieve from the EVM the sealed envelope containing the passwords assigned to the EVM;
7. Turn on the EVM and enter the six(6)-digit ADMINISTRATOR password;
8. In the Technical Menu, under Maintenance sub-menu, conduct a diagnostic test of all the components of the EVM (removable and internal memories, modem, printer, control button, voting pad, sound and audio control button) to determine whether or not such components are functioning. If the print-out of the diagnostic report shows that any one of the components is not functioning, refer the matter to the EVM Support Technician (EVMST) assigned in the polling center. Once the defective component or peripheral is fixed, conduct another diagnostic test that should show all components are functioning. Place the diagnostic report/s inside the envelope provided for the purpose (CEF No.18-B). The action/s taken by the EVMST, if any, and the results should be noted in the Minutes;

SEC. 49. Opening of the Polls. - At exactly 7:00 o'clock in the morning, the chairman of the board shall open the voting by pressing "Open Elections" in the Voting Menu. The EVM shall automatically print an initial ZERO ("0") vote report for all the candidates in each position. Such print-out shall be shown to the watchers present, and thereafter, place inside the same envelope intended for the diagnostic report/s (CEF No. 18-B).

SEC. 50. Manner of voting. - The voter shall approach the chairman, give his name, address, together with the other data concerning his person.

The chairman of the board shall establish the identity of the voter through his photograph or specimen signatures in the Voter's Registration Record or EDCVL, unless he is identified under oath by any member of the board. If the chairman still doubts the identity of the voter, he shall require him to present any authentic document which may establish his identity, except barangay certificate or community tax certificate. If the board is satisfied with his identity, the chairman shall distinctively announce the voter's name in a tone loud enough to be heard throughout the polling place. If the voter is not challenged, or having been challenged, the question has been decided in his favor, the voter shall be allowed to vote.

Before the voter is allowed to vote, the chairman shall:

1. Check if any of the fingernails of the voter has already been stained with indelible ink. If stained, it shall be a conclusive presumption that he has cast his vote. As such, he shall be directed to leave the polling place after informing the voter the reason thereof. This fact including the name of the voter shall be recorded in the Minutes;
2. If no fingernail has been stained, apply indelible ink at the base and extending to the cuticle of the right forefinger nail of the voter, or any other nails if there be no forefinger nail. If the voter refuses to be stained, he shall not be allowed to vote and instead, be directed to leave the polling place. This fact including the name of the voter shall be recorded in the Minutes;
3. Require the voter to affix his signature on the EDCVL;
4. Affix his signature on the EDCVL;
5. Advise the voter to:
1. Look at the Voting Pad to familiarize himself with the names and pictures of the candidate or candidates he intends to vote for;
2. Cast his vote within three (3) minutes from the time the Control Button is pressed, otherwise the EVM shall automatically close after three (3) minutes and he will not be able to vote; and
3. Retrieve the VPAT from the EVM after voting, fold it and give the same to the chairman.
6. Press the Control Button to allow the voter to cast his vote;
7. After the Control Button has been pressed, the voter shall:
1. Start voting by pressing the picture of the candidate or candidates of his choice on the voting pad;



If the voter fails to cast his vote within three (3) minutes, the EVM shall automatically close and shall print a report informing the voter that the time allotted for voting has lapsed. The voter shall retrieve the report and submit it to the chairman, who shall enter such fact in the Minutes and attach the report to the Minutes copy for the Commission. The chairman shall then unlock the EVM by pressing the Control Button to enable the voter to cast his vote. The voter shall be given one (1) last chance to cast his vote.

2. Select his/her gender and age group on the voting pad;
3. Verify his votes on the EVM screen and press the "BOTO" button;

At any time before pressing the "BOTO" button, he may change his vote/s by pressing the picture or name of the candidate or candidates he wants to change on the EVM screen, and thereafter the voter may repeat the process of selecting his candidates on the voting pad.

4. Once the "BOTO" button is pressed, the EVM will prompt him to confirm his vote with the question "SIGURADO KA BA SA BOTO MO?". The voter shall then press either the "OO" or "HINDI" button on the EVM screen;

If he wants to change his vote, he shall press the "HINDI" button. Thereafter, follow the procedure in paragraph (c).

If he wants to confirm his vote, he shall press the "OO" button, and the EVM shall automatically print a VVPAT containing the name/s of the candidates he has voted for.

5. Retrieve the VVPAT, fold it and deposit in the ballot box in the presence of the Chairman.

The chairman shall require the voter to affix his thumb mark in the EDCVL and direct him to leave the polling place.

SEC. 51. Procedure for closing of the polls. - As soon as the voting is finished, the chairman of the board shall announce that the voting is closed. The members of the board shall enter their names and electronic signatures on the EVM screen, or on each EVM if there be more than one (1) assigned to the clustered precinct, by pressing the "BOARD OF ELECTION INSPECTORS INFORMATION" in the Voting Menu. Each member shall select the box corresponding to his position and shall input his name in the appropriate field and affix his signature in the space provided therefore on the EVM Screen. Press "SAVE" and repeat the procedure until all the information of the members of the board has been captured.

Proceed to the Voting Menu, and press the "CLOSE ELECTIONS" button. The EVM shall prompt the chairman of the board to enter the ADMINISTRATOR password to confirm the closing of the voting.

SEC. 52. Consolidation of Votes - After the termination of voting ("CLOSE ELECTIONS"), the board shall consolidate the results.

In case of a precinct with only one (1) EVM, there is no need to consolidate, and the board shall proceed with the creation of a back-up as provided under Sec. 53 hereof.

In case of precincts with two or more EVMs, the board shall choose the EVM to be used as the consolidation machine. Once the consolidation machine has been selected, the EVM serial number shall be noted in the Minutes. The rest of the EVMs shall then be shut-down/turned off. Thereafter, the chairman of the board shall:

1. Remove the USB memory stick found inside one of the shut down EVMs;
2. Open the CONSOLIDATION MENU in the EVM Consolidation machine and press the "CONSOLIDATE" button;
3. At the prompt of the system, insert the USB memory stick extracted from the shut down EVM unit into the USB slot at the rear panel of the EVM consolidation unit;
4. The EVM Consolidation machine shall automatically print a "consolidation report," which shall be attached to the Minutes (copy for the Commission);
5. When the system prompts, extract the consolidated USB memory stick and return it to the same EVM where it was extracted; and
6. Repeat the same procedure with the other USB memory sticks until all of them have been successfully consolidated.

At the end of the consolidation of all the EVMs, the members of the board shall ensure that it has the corresponding number of successful "consolidation reports," such that if there be four (4) EVMs assigned to the precinct, there must be three (3) successful "consolidation reports."

SEC. 53. Creation of back-up for the consolidated precinct results (USB WORM). - After the consolidation of the precinct results, the chairman of the board shall access the function "Back-up in USB WORM" in the Auditing Menu of the EVM consolidation unit. When the system prompts "INSERT THE USB WORM," proceed to insert the USB WORM in the USB slot at the rear panel of the EVM consolidation unit, and then press "OK." hen the system prompts, "EXTRACT THE USB WORM", remove it and place it inside an envelope, seal the same with a serially-numbered paper seal, and put the sealed envelope inside the EVM Carrying Case compartment.

SEC. 54. Advance Transmission of the Precinct Results. - After creating the back-up, the chairman of the board shall:

1. Connect the cable of the transmission device to the EVM consolidation machine;
2. Open the Consolidation Menu then press "TRANSMIT CONSOLIDATED ELECTION RETURNS";
3. Press "ALL CONSOLIDATED RESULTS" then press the "ADVANCE" option. The EVM will automatically transmit the advance precinct results to the Regional Canvassing Center (RCC). The EVM will then print a report indicating whether or not the transmission is successful;
4. In case of an unsuccessful transmission, repeat the process. If the problem persists, call the EVMST for assistance;
5. Record the results of the advance transmission in the Minutes.

SEC. 55. Printing of Election Returns (ERs) and Transmission of Official Copy of the Precinct Results. - The board shall print the Election Returns (ERs) by pressing the key "PRINT CONSOLIDATION ELECTION RETURNS" in the Consolidation menu. Perform this procedure eight (8) times to generate the eight (8) copies.

After printing the eighth (8th) copy of the ER, the board shall affix their thumb marks beside their digital signatures on the printed ERs. The board shall also require the watchers present to print their names, the candidates/political parties they represent, and affix their signatures and thumb marks at the back of the printed ERs. Thereafter, the chairman of the board shall publicly announce the total number of votes received by each candidate, stating their corresponding offices. The poll clerk shall announce the posting of said copy of the election return on a wall within the premises of the polling place, which must be sufficiently lighted and accessible to the public. After forty-eight (48) hours following the posting, the chairman of the board shall detach the posted printed copy in the wall and keep the same in his custody to be produced as may be requested by any voter for image or data capturing or for any lawful purpose as may be ordered by competent authority.

Thereafter, the Chairman of the Board shall electronically transmit the Official Copy of the precinct results to the city/municipal consolidation center (CCC/MCC) by:

1. Pressing "TRANSMIT CONSOLIDATED ELECTION RETURNS;"
2. Press "ALL CONSOLIDATED RESULTS" then press the "OFFICIAL COPY" option. The EVM will automatically transmit the official copy to the City/Municipal Consolidation;
3. The EVM will then print a report indicating whether or not the transmission is successful. In case of an unsuccessful transmission, repeat the process. If the problem persists, call the EVMST for assistance;
4. Record in the Minutes the results of the transmission of the Official Copy.

After the transmission, the board shall print additional twenty-two (22) copies of the ER by following the procedures in the printing of ER. The board shall affix their thumb marks and the watchers present shall also affix their signatures and thumb marks as provided above. The board shall also print the Audit Log Report by pressing the "DISPLAY LOGS" in the Auditing Menu. The EVM shall automatically display the Audit Logs. Press "PRINT" and press "PRINT ALL". To print the transmission logs, press "DISPLAY LOGS" in the Auditing Menu, then select "TRANSMISSION". Press "PRINT" and press "PRINT ALL." These reports shall be placed inside the same envelope (CEF No. 18-B) containing the diagnostic test and zero "0" reports.

In case the printed reports display a continuous red line on one side of the paper, the board shall open the EVM and change the paper roll with a new one.

The board may have the option to view the results in the consolidating machine by pressing the key "DISPLAY CONSOLIDATED ELECTION RETURNS" in the Consolidation Menu.

SEC. 56. Turning the machine off. - The board shall in the Main Menu of the EVM, press the "SHUTDOWN VOTING MACHINE" key, and the chairman of the BEI shall enter the six(6)-digit ADMINISTRATOR password.

SEC. 57. USB Memory Stick. - After the electronic transmission of the ER and the EVM has been turned off, the chairman of the board shall retrieve the USB Memory Stick inside the assigned EVM Consolidation Machine. It shall be labeled as "CONSOLIDATED MEMORY STICK." The USB Memory Sticks from the other EVM machines shall be bundled together and placed inside an envelope (CEF No. 18-B), together with the consolidated memory stick, and sealed with paper seal (CEF No. 12). The chairman shall thereafter submit the envelope to the city/municipal consolidation center.

SEC. 58.Uninstalling the EVMs. - After all the EVMs have been turned off, the board shall disconnect and uninstall all the peripherals and other devices from the EVM, place them inside the EVM Carrying Case, and lock the same with the EVM cable tie.