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Bagumbayan-VNP vs. COMELEC

The Supreme Court ruled that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) must activate the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) feature on vote-counting machines for the 2016 elections, as mandated by law. The court emphasized that while COMELEC has discretion in administering elections, it cannot modify or ignore legal requirements. The ruling highlights the importance of voter confidence in the electoral process, asserting that proper procedures can mitigate concerns about vote-buying.

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Judiel Pareja
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87 views1 page

Bagumbayan-VNP vs. COMELEC

The Supreme Court ruled that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) must activate the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) feature on vote-counting machines for the 2016 elections, as mandated by law. The court emphasized that while COMELEC has discretion in administering elections, it cannot modify or ignore legal requirements. The ruling highlights the importance of voter confidence in the electoral process, asserting that proper procedures can mitigate concerns about vote-buying.

Uploaded by

Judiel Pareja
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Bagumbayan-VNP vs.

COMELEC
GR No. 222731, March 8 2016

Facts:
Bagumbayan-VNP and former Senator Gordon filed before the SC a petition for mandamus to compel
COMELEC to implement the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) which is a security feature provided
under RA 8346, as amended by RA 9369, to ensure the sanctity of the ballot. The VVPAT functionality is
in the form of a printed receipt and a touch screen reflecting the votes in the vote-counting machine. For
the 2016 elections, the COMELEC opted to use vote-counting machines instead of PCOS. The vote-
counting machines are capable of providing the VVPAT functionality, and for that the COMELEC is now
being petitioned to have the vote-counting machines issue receipts once the person has voted. The
COMELEC, however, refused to enable this feature for reasons that the receipts might be used by
candidates in vote-buying and that it might increase the voting time in election precincts.

Issue:
Whether or not the COMELEC must activate the VVPAT feature of the vote-counting machines.

Held:
Yes. The minimum functional capabilities enumerated under Section 6 of Republic Act 8436, as
amended, are mandatory.

The law is clear that a “voter verified paper audit trail” requires the following: (a) individual voters can
verify whether the machines have been able to count their votes; and (b) that the verification at minimum
should be paper based

While it is true that the Commission on Elections is given ample discretion to administer the elections, but
certainly, its constitutional duty is to "enforce the law." The Commission is not given the constitutional
competence to amend or modify the law it is sworn to uphold. Should there be policy objections to it,
the remedy is to have Congress amend it.

The Commission on Elections cannot opt to breach the requirements of the law to assuage its fears
regarding the VVPAT. Vote-buying can be averted by placing proper procedures. The Commission on
Elections has the power to choose the appropriate procedure in order to enforce the VVPAT requirement
under the law, and balance it with the constitutional mandate to secure the secrecy and sanctity of the
ballot.

The credibility of the results of any election depends, to a large extent, on the confidence of each voter
that his or her individual choices have actually been counted. It is in that local precinct after the voter
casts his or her ballot that this confidence starts. It is there where it will be possible for the voter to believe
that his or her participation as sovereign truly counts.

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