B.

COUNTING OF VOTES

Board of Election Inspectors

Composition:

a. Chairman


b. 2 members – all of whom must be public school teachers

Powers of the Board

a) Conduct the voting and counting of votes in their respective polling places.

b) Acts as deputies of COMELEC

c) Perform such other functions prescribed by the Code or by COMELEC 


Counting to be Public and without Interruption unless ordered by COMELEC

Determination of Marked Ballots

 Marks which shall be considered sufficient to invalidate the ballot are those which the voter himself deliberately placed on his
ballot for the purpose of identifying it thereafter.

Duties of Board of Election Inspectors in Counting the Votes

 BEI should not concern themselves with the eligibility of the candidates.

 Counting of votes should be liberal in order that the will of the electorate may be effectuated .

Announcement of Results of Elections and Issuance of Certificate of Votes

 Upon completion of the election returns Chairman of BEI shall orally and publicly announce the total number of votes received
by each and every one of the candidates, stating their corresponding office.

 After announcement, BEI shall issue a certificate, signed by all the members of the BEI, stating the number of the votes received
by a candidate upon request of the duly accredited watchers.

What Constitutes an Election

 Plurality of votes lawfully cast

MOYA v. DEL FIERRO

69 PHIL. 199

FACTS: In the general elections held on December 14, 1937, respondent Agripino Ga. Del Fierro and petitioner Ireneo Moya were
contending candidates for the office of the mayor of the Municipality of Paracale, Camarines Noret. After canvass of the returns, the
Board of canvassers proclaimed petitioner as the elected mayor with a majority of 102 votes. However, respondent filed a motion of
protest and judgment was rendered in favor of respondent, declaring him as the candidate-elect with a majority of 3 votes over his
rival. Petitioner now seeks said judgment for review alleging the following:

a. In admitting and counting in favor of the respondent, 8 ballots either inadvertently or contrary to the controlling decisions of this
Honorable Court

b. In admitting and counting in favor of the respondent, 3 ballots marked "R. del Fierro."

c. In admitting and counting in favor of the respondent, 7 ballots marked "Rufino del Firro."

d. In admitting and couting in favor of the respondent, 72 ballots marked "P. delFierro."

ISSUE: Whether or not petitioner’s contentions are tenable.

RULING No. Republicanism, in so far as it implies the adoption of a representative type of government, necessarily points to the
enfranchised citizen as a particle of popular sovereignty and as the ultimate source of the established authority. He has a voice in his
Government and whenever c alled u pon to ac t in j usticia bl e cases , to gi ve it e²cacy and not to s±·e it. This,
fundamentally, is the reason for the rule that ballots should be read and appreciated, if not with utmost, with reasonable, liberality. It is
sufficient to observe, however, in this connection that whatever might have been said incases heretofore decided, no technical rule or
rules should be permitted to defeat the intention of the voter, if that intention is discoverable from the ballot itself, not from evidence
aliunde. This rule of interpretation goes to the very root of the system. Rationally, also, this must be the justification for the suggested
liberalization of the rules on appreciation of ballots which are now incorporated in section 144 of the Election Code (Commonwealth Act
No.357).