Guidelines in court compliance on poll protests set

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has set guidelines on how it could comply with orders of regional trial courts (RTCs) on electoral protests.

In Resolution 9723, the Comelec authorized election officers and other concerned personnel to produce the documents that the RTCs require.

In election protests, the RTCs seek the ballot boxes, election returns (ERs), list of voters with voting records, book of voters, precinct count optical scan machines, consolidation and canvassing system laptops and electronic data storage device or the compact flash (CF) cards.

The Comelec shall advise the RTCs to issue a subpoena duces tecum to its Election Records and Statistics Department concerning the precincts involved.

It has authorized the election officers to produce the concerned list of voters.

However, the election officers were instructed to retain custody of the book of voters and to preserve and safeguard them.

The Comelec also allowed the election officers to decrypt the CF cards and print the ERs and digital ballot images of the precincts involved and to reproduce the CD containing the certificates of canvass and statement of votes of the city/municipality involved in the cases.