Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Introduction
Absentee voting refers to the process by
which qualified Filipinos abroad may be
allowed to vote under a system the Congress
provides. It is also a system wherein public
officials and employees are allowed to vote
in their place of work because in the
performance of their election duties they are
stationed in places other than the place
where they are registered voters.
2. Brief Discussion
There are two types of absentee voting, one
is local absentee voting and the other one is
Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV).
Issue No. 1:
Whether or not Section 5(d) of R.A. No. 9189 violates Art. V, Sec. 1 of the
Constitution.
Ruling:
No, Sec 5(d) is valid. The Court has relied on the discussions of the
members of the Constitutional Commission on the topics of absentee
voting and absentee voter qualification, in connection with Sec. 2, Art.
V of the Constitution, which reads:
“Sec. 2. The Congress shall provide a system for securing the secrecy
and sanctity of the ballot as well as a system for absentee voting by
qualified Filipinos abroad.”
It was clearly shown from the said discussions that the Constitutional
Commission intended to enfranchise as much as possible all Filipino
citizens abroad who have not abandoned their domicile of origin,
which is in the Philippines. The COMELEC even intended to extend
to young Filipinos who reach voting age abroad whose parents’
domicile of origin is in the Philippines, and consider them qualified as
voters for the first time. That Section 2 of Article V of the Constitution
is an exception to the residency requirement found in Section 1 of the
same Article was in fact the subject of debate when Senate Bill No.
2104, which later became R.A. No. 9189, was deliberated upon on the
Senate floor, further weakening petitioner’s claim on the
unconstitutionality of Section 5(d) of R.A. No. 9189.
3. Jurisprudence
Macalintal vs COMELEC
[G.R. No. 157013. July 10, 2003]
Issue No. 2:
Whether or not Section 18.5 of R.A. No. 9189 violates Art. VII, Sec. 4 of the
Constitution.
Ruling:
Yes, Section 18.5 is unconstitutional. Section 18.5 of R.A. No. 9189 is
far too sweeping that it necessarily includes the proclamation of the
winning candidates for the presidency and the vice-presidency,
granting merit to petitioner’s contention that said Section appears to
be repugnant to Section 4, Article VII of the Constitution only insofar
as said Section totally disregarded the authority given to Congress by
the Constitution to proclaim the winning candidates for the positions
of President and Vice-President.
Issue No. 3:
Whether or not Section 25 of R.A. No. 9189 violates Art. IX-A, Sec. 1 of the
Constitution
Ruling:
Yes, Section 25 creating the JCOC is unconstitutional. The
Commission on Elections is a constitutional body. It is intended to
play a distinct and important part in our scheme of government. In
the discharge of its functions, it should not be hampered with
restrictions that would be fully warranted in the case of a less
responsible organization.