Resolution No. 9647

In view of the experience and data gathered during Mock Elections conducted on 02 February 2013, this Honorable Commission RESOLVED, as it hereby RESOLVES, to amend its Resolution No. 9595, "The General Instructions for the conduct of a Random Manual Audit (RMA) for the 13 May 2013 Automated Synchronized National, Local & ARMM Elections and subsequent elections thereafter," promulgated on 21 December 2012, to wit:

SECTION 1. All reference to "Political Parties" pertains to registered political parties.

SECTION 2. Section 1 paragraphs (d) and (e) are amended to read as follows:

"d) Each RMAT shall be subdivided into two (2) groups: 1) the Chairman, Secretary and Third Member shall comprise the Manual Count Group while 2) the Co-Chairman and Assistant Secretary shall comprise the Verification Group.

e) RMAT members shall be public school teachers, giving preference to those who have served as members of the Board of Elections Inspectors in past Elections."

SECTION 3. Section 3 paragraph (a) is amended to read as follows:

"a) Conduct the RMA in the polling place of the randomly selected clustered precinct immediately after the Board of Election Inspectors seals the ballot box; provided that RMAT may so choose upon majority vote to conduct the RMA at 7:00 o'clock in the morning the day after Elections pursuant to Section 6 hereof."

SECTION 4. Section 5 subparagraphs (b.7.) and (b.8.) are amended to read as follows:

"b.7. Source Code Review must be initiated by the last week of March of the year of the Elections but must be finished within thirty (30) days thereafter.

b.8. Each Registered Political Party or Accredited Citizens' Arm Group that conducted a Source Code Review shall submit a Report to the Commission within ten (10) days from completion of the review."

SECTION 5. Section 5 paragraph (c) is amended to read as follows:

"c) The selection of the clustered precinct will be open to the bona fide Candidates, Registered Political Parties and Accredited Citizens' Arm Groups to ensure speedy dissemination of information and for transparency.

SECTION 6. Section 6 is amended to read as follows:

"d) x x x
The RMAT may choose, upon majority vote, to conduct the RMA at 7:00 o'clock in the morning the day after Elections only upon exceptional circumstances, such as:

1. the polling place is affected by a power interruption;
2. fire and any other calamity in the polling place or within the immediate area;
3. occurrence of violence in the polling place or within the immediate area; and
4. other circumstances analogous to the foregoing.

In such event, RMAT should appraise the present Poll Watchers of their decision and notify the Coordinator, who shall make arrangements for the security of the sealed ballot box and the place for the RMA. The RMAT shall moreover submit a Report to the RMA Committee regarding their decision, the arrangements for the security of the sealed ballot box and the place for the RMA.

SECTION 7. Section 7 paragraph (d) is amended to read as follows:

"d) After the BEI has accomplished all of its duties and responsibilities, save for the delivery of the ballot boxes to the concerned City/Municipal Treasurers/Prosecutors, the BEI of the randomly selected clustered precinct who conducted the polls shall endorse the ballot box to the RMAT; provided that, in the event that the BEI already turned over the ballot box to the concerned City/Municipal Treasurers/Prosecutors, the latter shall endorse the ballot box to the RMAT upon presentation of their Appointment Papers, who shall proceed to conduct the random manual audit pursuant to Section 6."

SECTION 8. Section 8 is amended to read as follows:

"SECTION 8. Procedure for the Random Manual Audit. - In case the Commission decides to utilize Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) Voting Machines instead of the paper-based Optical Mark Reader (OMR) Counting Machines, receipts are taken to be the material equivalent of ballots for purposes of this Resolution.

x x x

1. x x x The presence of two (2) Manual Count Group members and one (1) Verification Group member shall suffice to constitute a quorum.

x x x

3. Verify the condition of the following items to check if the integrity is maintained:

   c.1. Ballot box; and

   c.2. Fixed-length seals attached to the ballot box.

4. Break the fixed-length seals and open the ballot box.
5. Retrieve the sealed envelopes containing the Minutes of Testing and Sealing, Minutes of Voting and Counting and the copy of the Election Returns from the ballot box.

x x x

The Assistant Secretary shall:

7. Verify if serial numbers of the fixed-length seals attached to ballot box is the same as that indicated in the Minutes of Voting and Counting. The results of such verification or any discrepancy whatsoever shall be recorded in the RMA Minutes.
8. Ensure that every event is recorded in the RMA Minutes; provided that, if there is any article that the BEI should have placed inside the ballot box and that is found missing, the RMAT should get a witness to attest to such fact by signing the RMA Minutes.
   
   In the event that the copy of the Election Returns for the ballot box is missing therein, the RMAT shall borrow one (1) of the twenty-two (22) copies of the Election Returns printed after the AES results have been transmitted.

x x x

The Third Member shall:

10. Do a recount if the total number of valid ballots contained inside the ballot box does not match with the number of valid ballots counted as indicated in the Election Returns as found by the Secretary, to confirm such finding. After the said recount and the total number of valid ballots still does not match the number of valid ballots counted, the Third Member shall determine whether valid ballots were mixed with rejected ballots by referring to the Minutes of Testing and Sealing and Minutes of Voting and Counting of the BEI and have the Assistant Secretary record the incident in the RMA Minutes."

SECTION 9. Section 9 is amended to read as follows:

"SECTION 9. Guidelines on Reading of Votes. -

The Chairman, prior to reading the votes cast, shall:

1. Check the number of votes for each position subject to RMA.

   a.1. In case there is an over-vote, such fact shall be recorded in the Audit Returns by the Secretary but the vote shall not be counted for any candidate for that particular position. An over-vote is an incident when a voter selects more than the allowed number of seats for a particular position. An over-vote is counted as to the number of seats allowed, i.e. an over-vote for senators is counted as twelve (12), while an over-vote for Mayor as one (1). However, the fact of over-voting in any particular position will not invalidate the entire ballot or receipt. It shall remain valid and votes for other positions (that are not over-voted) shall be counted.

   a.2. In case there is an under-vote, such fact shall similarly be recorded in the Audit Returns by the Secretary. An under-vote pertains to the situation where the voter chooses less than the allowed maximum number of seats for a position, i.e. if there are twelve (12) seats for a position and the voter selected only five (5) candidates, there are seven (7) under-votes, or the situation where the voter does not choose a candidate for a position with only one (1) seat. The fact of under-voting in any particular position will not invalidate the votes for that position.

   The Chairman shall set aside ballots with over-votes and those with under-votes in the respective envelopes so denominated. In the event that a ballot has an over-vote and an under-vote, the ballot should be placed in the Envelope for Ballots with Over-votes.

2. In case the Elections utilize an OMR Counting Machine, if an oval of a ballot is not shaded properly, i.e. the shaded portion of the oval is below the approved threshold, or contains other questionable marks (such as checks or crosses), the vote corresponding to the said candidate shall be counted but such fact shall be recorded in the RMA Minutes. The subject ballot shall then be placed in an RMA envelope for Ballots with Questionable Marks.

   The rules on appreciation of ballots in manual system of counting shall not apply for purposes of the RMA.

   In the event that a ballot has an over-vote and/or under-vote and contains questionable marks, the said ballot should be placed in the Envelope for Ballots with Over-votes.

3. x x x

   The Co-Chairman shall validate the findings of the Chairman. In case of dispute with the Chairman, the findings of the Co-Chairman will prevail. The Co-Chairman marks the ballot then places the same in an envelope for Disputed Ballots and directs the Assistant Secretary to record the incident in the RMA Minutes.

   The RMAT members are not permitted to mark the ballots in any manner except when Co-Chairman marks the ballot as 'disputed.'"

SECTION 10. Section 10 paragraphs (d), (e) and (j) are amended to read as follows:

4. x x x The Co-Chairman marks the ballot then places the same in the envelope for Disputed Ballots and directs the Assistant Secretary to record the incident in the RMA Minutes.

   The RMAT members are not permitted to mark the ballots in any manner except when Co-Chairman marks the ballot as "disputed."

5. The Secretary shall accomplish the six (6) copies of the Audit Returns and respectively record thereon each vote read by the Chairman, while the Third Member does the same on the Tally Board. The Assistant Secretary shall confirm that the Secretary records each vote correctly. Each vote shall be recorded by a vertical line, except every fifth vote which shall be recorded by a diagonal line crossing the previous four (4) vertical lines (Taras).

   x x x

10. x x x The Co-Chairman and Assistant Secretary shall review the entries of the Audit Returns in order to exclude the possibility of human error.

SECTION 11. Section 11 is amended to read as follows:

"x x x

Audit Returns:

1. The Secretary shall accomplish six (6) copies of the Audit Returns by accurately entering therein the votes obtained by each candidate.

"x x x

SECTION 12. Section 13 is amended to read as follows:

"SECTION 13. Discrepancy Between AES and RMA. - In the event of discrepancy between the AES and RMA results still exceeds the allowable margin of an aggregate difference of ten (10) votes, the RMA Committee, with the assistance of the Validation Personnel, shall:

1. Notify Candidates, Political Parties and their Watchers, who may observe the proceedings, through the Regional Election Director (for NCR) or the concerned Provincial Election Supervisor of the date and time of transport of the ballot boxes to the RMA Committee;

x x x

To analyze the findings of RMAT, the RMA Committee will constitute the Validation Personnel at least four (4) days prior to the day of the Elections."

SECTION 13. Effectivity and Dissemination. - This Resolution shall take effect on the seventh (7th) day after its publication in two (2) daily newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

The Education and Information Department shall cause the publication of this Resolution and shall furnish copies thereof to all Regional Election Directors, Provincial Election Supervisors and Election Officers, as well as to Commission on Election Accredited Citizen's Arm Group authorized to receive one of the first eight copies of the Election Returns and to conduct an unofficial parallel count.

SO ORDERED.