Resolution No. 8699

WHEREAS, Resolution No. 8647 promulgated on July 14, 2009, provides for the guidelines on the clustering/grouping of established precincts for purposes of the May 10, 2010 National and Local Automated Elections;

WHEREAS, Section 6 of Republic Act No. 8189 provides that each precinct shall have a maximum of two hundred (200) voters;

WHEREAS, due to the cleansing of registration records by deactivation and cancellation by reason of death, there are instances where the mother/original precincts have less than fifty (50) voters; and these mother/original precincts still have one or more daughter/lspin-off precincts with less than ten (10) voters at the very least;

WHEREAS, based on the Project of Precincts (POPs) submitted by the Election Officers after the July 20, 2009, Election Registration Board hearing, the total number of clustered precincts is 85,316, while the allocation of PCOS is 80,136 with 2,064 spare;

WHEREAS, there is a need to adjust the number of established precincts to be clustered/grouped in order not to exceed from the allocation of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines for 1,000 registered voters per cluster/group;

NOW, THEREFORE, the Commission on Elections, by virtue of the power vested in it by the Constitution, the Omnibus Election Code, and other election laws, has RESOLVED, as it hereby RESOLVES, to amend Item No. 3 of the guidelines on the clustering/grouping of established precincts, which shall now read as follows:

" 3. Clustered/grouped precincts shall not exceed seven (7) precincts taking into account the equitable distribution of the number of registered voters per precinct and the aggregate number of registered voters in the clustered/grouped precincts shall not exceed One Thousand (1,000);"

Let the Election and Barangay Affairs Department (EBAD) implement this resolution.

SO ORDERED.