Sec. 41. Preliminaries to postal voting. – The COAV shall:

1) Advise the political parties and the citizen’s arm duly accredited by the Commission to appoint their official watchers to witness the preparation of mailing packets.

2) Prepare at the OAV Mailing Center all mailing packets containing the following:

2.1) Official Ballot (OAVF No. 6);

2.2) List of Candidates;

2.3) Instructions to Voters;

2.4) Official Ballot Envelope (OAVF No. 45); and

2.5) Paper Seals (OAVF No. 12).

3) Prepare the mailing lists where the serial numbers of the ballots, paper seal and official ballot envelope assigned to the individual voter are reflected.

4) Ensure that the mailing packets are sent not later than March 10, 2010 either directly to the voters or through the Posts.

5) Send to the Posts, via e-mail, not later than March 10, 2010, copy of the following:

5.1) OAVF No. 2-A which contains the names of voters and the serial numbers of the ballots assigned to them; and

5.2) Scanned copy of the application form of the voter concerned where his signature appears, in the absence of the signature of said voter in OAVF No. 2-A.

6) Send to DFA-OAVS compact discs containing copies of the documents in 5.1 and 5.2 hereof for distribution to the Post.

Sec. 42. Procedures for sending mailing packets to the voters by the Post. – Upon receipt of the mailing packets, the SBRCG shall:

1) Make an inventory of all the mailing packets;

2) Immediately verify the addresses of the voters;

3) Inform the voter that his mailed ballot is available for pick-up and post in conspicuous places in the embassy/consulate and in the website of the Post, the names of voters with instructions as to when, where and how they can claim their mailed ballots; or

4) Send the ballots directly to the voter.

Sec. 43. Procedures for postal voting – The voter shall:

1) Accomplish personally the ballot by writing the names of the candidates and sectoral party/organization or coalition participating in the party-list system of representation;

2) Affix his right thumb mark on the ballot coupon which is located on the lower portion of the official ballot;

3) Detach the ballot coupon and place it inside the Ballot Envelope;

4) Fold the official ballot in such a way that its contents will not be seen and seal it with a paper seal;

5) Place the accomplished ballot inside the Ballot Envelope and seal the same;

6) Write his name and affix his signature on the upper left-hand corner of the Ballot Envelope;

Failure to affix his signature shall invalidate his ballot.

7) Return the sealed Ballot Envelope personally or by mail to the Post on or before May 10, 2010. If mailed or delivered personally on May 10, 2010, it should be received by the Post on or before 6:00 o’clock in the evening, Philippine time on the same date.

Sec. 44. Reception and Verification of the Ballot Envelopes. – The SBRCG shall:

1. Reception procedures



1) Assign a receptacle each for valid ballots, invalid ballots and questionable ballots;

2) Receive and stamp on the face of the Ballot Envelope and opposite the name of the voter in the OAVF No. 2-A, the date and time of receipt thereof, as it is delivered:

2.1) If the Ballot Envelope is received at any time before May 10, 2010, proceed to the verification procedures.

2.2) If the Envelope is received on May 10, 2010:

2.2.1) Before 6:00 o’clock in the evening Philippine time, proceed to the verification process; or

2.2.2) After 6:00 o’clock in the evening Philippine time, place the Ballot Envelope inside the receptacle for “Invalid Ballots”.

2. Verification procedures



1) Ballot Envelope

Verify if the Ballot Envelope is the official envelope provided by the COAV. If not, place it in the receptacle for “Invalid Ballots”. If so, verify the signature appearing thereon.

2) Signature

2.1) If there is no signature, place the Ballot Envelope inside the receptacle for “Invalid Ballots”;

2.2) If there is a signature but it is not identical to that appearing in OAVF No. 2-A, indicate such fact on the Ballot Envelope and place the same inside the receptacle for “Questionable Ballots”;

2.3) If there is a signature on the envelope but there is none in OAVF No. 2-A, compare the signature with that appearing in the scanned application form of the voter. If it is not identical indicate such fact on the ballot envelope and place the same inside the receptacle for “Questionable Ballots”;

2.4) If the signature appearing thereon is identical to that appearing in OAVF No.2-A, or in the scanned application form of the voter, open the Ballot Envelope to determine whether it contains the ballot coupon and the official ballot.

3) Ballot Coupon

3.1) If the ballot coupon is not inside, indicate such fact on the Ballot Envelope, and place it inside the receptacle for “Questionable Ballots”;

3.2) If the ballot coupon is inside the Ballot Envelope, verify if its serial number is the same as that indicated in the OAVF No. 2-A. If so, return the ballot coupon inside the Ballot Envelope and place the same in the receptacle for “Valid Ballots”. If not, indicate such fact on the Ballot Envelope, return the ballot coupon inside said Ballot Envelope, and place the same in the receptacle for “Invalid Ballots”.

4) Close and seal each receptacle at the end of each voting day;

5) On a daily basis during the entire voting period, keep a daily record of the number of Ballot Envelopes received and deposited in each receptacle;

6) Once the number of ballot envelope in each receptacle for valid and questionable ballots reaches 250, close and seal the receptacle and indicate thereon such number for issuance to the SBEI for counting.

7) 6:00 o’clock in the evening of May 10, 2010,

7.1) Place a line across the boxes intended for the date and time of receipt of Ballot Envelopes in OAVF No. 2-A;

7.2) Affix their signatures at the bottom of each page of the OAVF No. 2-A;

7.3) Request watchers, if available, to affix their signatures thereon;

Sec. 45. Invalid ballots. – The following constitute invalid ballots and shall not be included in the counting:

1) Those not contained in the Ballot Envelopes provided by the Commission;

2) Those contained in the Ballot Envelopes but received after 6:00 o’clock in the evening Philippine time of May 10, 2010;

3) Those contained in the Ballot Envelopes but do not bear the names and signatures of the voters; or

4) Those contained in the Ballot Envelopes where the serial numbers of the ballot coupons are different from the assigned numbers as indicated in OAVF No. 2-A.

Sec. 46. Returned Mails. – In case of failure of delivery of the mailed ballots to the voter by the Postal Office of the foreign country, they will be forwarded as “Returned Mails” to the Posts where the voters are registered. In such case, the SBRCG shall:

During the Voting Period:

1) Prepare, upon receipt of the “Returned Mails”, a list of names of the voters whose mailed ballots have been returned to the Posts, and immediately inform the Commission thereof.

2) Post in conspicuous places in the embassy/consulate and in the website of the Post the aforesaid list with the instructions as to when, where and how they can claim their returned mailed ballots.

3) Exert efforts to communicate with/locate the voters concerned and if possible, forward the ballots to them. For this purpose, mailing fees incurred by the Posts are chargeable to the Commission’s account.

4) Take into custody the returned mails and keep an inventory thereof until such time the voters concerned claim the same.

After the Voting Period:

In the event that the ballots remain unclaimed after the close of voting on May 10, 2010 at 6:00 o’clock in the evening Philippine time, the names of these voters, including the names of voters with returned mails received after the voting period, must be reported to the Commission for appropriate action.

The Commission shall request the Philpost to advise the postal offices of countries where postal voting is adopted to immediately turn-over to the Philippine embassies/consulates, all ballots which remain undelivered as of May 01, 2010.

For this purpose, all Posts adopting postal voting should coordinate with the postal offices in the host country on the matter of retrieving the undelivered ballots.

Article VII

Table of Contents

Article IX