About Suffrage,Elections and Political Parties

1. PHILIPPINE
GOVERNMENT
AND
CONSTITUTION

2. SUFFRAGE,
ELECTIONS
AND
POLITICAL
PARTIES

3. WHAT IS SUFFRAGE?
 Article V section I of The 1987 Constitution of
the Republic of the Philippines stated;
Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of
the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by
law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and
who shall have resided in the Philippines for at
least one year and in the place wherein they
propose to vote for at least six months
immediately preceding the election. No literacy,
property or other substantive requirement shall
be imposed on the exercise of suffrage.

4. On the other hand, suffrage
is one of the political rights
enjoyed by the citizens of
the country. This is
because through the
exercise of suffrage,
citizens can participate in
the establishment and
administration of
government.

5. SUFFRAGE AND ITS
SCOPE
Suffrage also refers to the right and
obligation of the citizens to vote in the
election of government officials and in
deciding on public questions submitted
to them. Thus, it includes election,
plebiscite, referendum, initiative, and
recall.

6. ELECTION
 It is the principal means by which the citizens
vote and select certain officials to represent
them in the administration of the government.
Election may be local or national.
 An election is a formal decision-making
process by which a population chooses an
individual to hold public office. Elections have
been the usual mechanism by which
modern representative democracy has operated
since the 17th century.

7. PLEBISCITE
 A plebiscite is a popular vote on a proposal which includes
the entire populace. Voters are asked to either reject or
accept the proposal, with the outcome of the plebiscite
determining the fate of the proposed measure, action,
constitution, or other political proposal. A plebiscite should
not be confused with a general election or regular voting, as
no party candidates are included in it.
 The word comes from the Latin plebis, “the people” and
scitum, “decree.” Under a plebiscite, the people are allowed
to decide on an issue of importance, and the outcome of the
vote is like a decree from the citizens. Both democracies and
dictatorships use plebiscites, although for very different
purposes. In both instances, the vote cannot truly be called a
plebiscite unless all eligible voters are able to participate.

8. REFERENDUM
 It refers to the process wherein a law or part of law
passed by the legislature or local legislative body is
submitted to the people for their approval or rejection.
 Article VI section 32
The congress shall, as early as possible, provide for a
system of initiative and referendum, and the exceptions
there from, whereby the people can directly propose and
enact laws or approve or reject any act of law or part
thereof passed by the Congress or local legislative body
after the registration of a petition therefor signed by at
least ten per centum of the total number of registered
voters, of which every legislative district must be
represented by at least three per centum of the registered
voters thereof.

9. INITIATIVE
It is a process whereby the people are given
the opportunity to directly propose or enact
laws. This can also be used by the people in
proposing changes to the fundamental law of
the land.

10. RECALL
 It is a means by which local officials may be removed from
the office even before the expiration of their term of office
by a vote of the resident .
 Article X Section 3.
The Congress shall enact a local government code which
shall provide for a more responsive and accountable local
government structure instituted through a system of
decentralization with effective mechanisms of recall,
initiative, and referendum, allocate among the different
local government units their powers, responsibilities, and
resources, and provide for the qualifications, election,
appointment and removal, term, salaries, powers and
functions and duties of local officials, and all other matters
relating to the organization and operation of the local units.

11. Who May EXERCISE Suffrage?
At least
18 years
of age
A resident
of the
country for
at least one
year
A resident of
Not the place
where they
disqualified intend to for
by law at least 6
months

12. Who are DISQUALIFIED to vote?
Any person who has been
sentenced for a prison term of
not less than one year, except
after 5 years from completion
of his sentence
Who has been found guilty of
committing a crime involving
disloyalty to the State (rebellion &
treason), except after 5 years from
completion of his sentence, and
Any person found to be not normal
mental condition.

13. KINDS OF ELECTION
GENERAL LOCAL
ELECTIONS ELECTIONS
FOUR TYPES
NATIONAL SPECIAL
ELECTIONS ELECTIONS

14. • General Elections are those held for the purpose of electing
national and local officials simultaneously.
• National elections are those conducted to elect the President,
Vice-President and members of Congress.
• Local Elections those held for purpose of selecting officials in the
region, provinces, cities, and municipalities.
• Special Elections are those held on a date different from that of
regular elections. Special elections are held due to any of the
following reasons (Zaide, 1994): when a vacancy occurs in an
elective office due to death or incapacity of the incumbent
officials; when the scheduled regular election is deferred due to
typhoon or other emergency; and when the regular elections are
cancelled due to terrorism, fraud and massive vote-buying.

15. ABSENTEE VOTING
According to the Constitution, Congress is
mandated to provide a system for securing the
secrecy and sanctity of the ballot and a system
for absentee voting by qualified Filipinos
abroad. Responding to this mandate, Congress
enacted Republic Act No. 9189, more popularly
known as the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of
2003. This law provides that overseas Filipinos
may vote for president, vice-president, senators
and party-list representatives only. This law,
however, does not allow absentee voters to cast
their votes on plebiscite and referendum.

16. The supervision of
Rules elections in the
Philippines is under the
Governing charge of the Commission
Elections on Elections or COMELEC.
In the process of
in the supervising the conduct
Country of elections, the
COMELEC is guided by the
rules governing elections
as stated in the provisions
of Republic Act No.7166.

17. • Elections an Campaign Period. Campaign period
for the President, Vice-President and Senators is
90 days before the day of election and 45 days
before the day of election for members of the
House of Representatives and elective
provincial, city, and municipal officials.
Campaigning outside the prescribed period is
considered an election offense.
• Nomination and Selection of Official Candidates.
Even the period for political conventions for the
purpose of forming political parties and
nominating official candidates is fixed by the
aforementioned legislation.

18. • Filing of Certificate of Candidacy. The certificate
of candidacy of an individual running for
national elections is required to be filed at the
main office of the COMELEC not later than the
day prior to the beginning to the campaign
period. On the other hand, those running for
elective positions in the provinces are to submit
their certificates of candidacy to their provincial
election supervisor, while those running for
municipal and city elective positions are to file
their certificates with their city or municipal
election registrar.

19. • Precincts and Polling Places. Every barangay is
required to have at least one election precinct, with
each precinct having not more than 300 voters. A
polling place is supposed to be set up in each
barangay, where the board of election inspectors
conducts election proceeding and where voters cast
their votes.
• Registration of Voters. The registration of voters is
held on the 15th Saturday prior to the day of election
for those who are to reach 18 years or before the day
of election and for those qualified to cast their vote
but not included in the list of voters. Additional
registration date can be designated by the COMELEC
when it is needed.

20. • Common Poster Area. The COMELEC is
empowered to designate common poster
areas in the barangay where candidates can
post their election propaganda announcing
their candidacy.
• Prohibited Forms of Propaganda. Notable
among the prohibited forms of election
propaganda are the following: printing,
publishing or distributing any poster or
printed matter urging voters to vote for or
against any candidate without bearing the
name of the printer and payer.

21. • Official Watchers. Every political party and
candidate is entitled to one watcher in every
polling place and canvassing center. Thiose
running for positions in the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan, Sangguniang Panlunsod or
Sangguniang Bayan belonging to the same party
are entitled to only one watcher, as well.
• Board of Election Inspectors. The Board of
Election Inspectors is constituted by a chairman
and two members who are permanent public
school teachers. Nevertheless, when there is a
shortage in public school teachers who can serve
during scheduled elections, teachers from the
private schools are appointed by the COMELEC.

22. • Board of Canvassers. In every province, city, and
municipality a board of canvassers are constituted.
The Provincial Board of Canvassers is composed of
the provincial election supervisor or a lawyer in the
COMELEC regional office as chairman, the provincial
fiscal as member, and the provincial superintendent
of schools as member. The City Board of Canvassers is
composed of the city election registrar or COMELEC
lawyer as chairman, the city fiscal as vice chairman
and the city superintendent of schools as member. On
the other hand, comprising the Municipal Board of
Canvassers are the municipal election registrar or a
COMELEC representative as chairman, the municipal
treasurer as vice-chairman, and the most senior
district school supervisor as member.

23. • Pre-Proclamation Controversies. Pre –
proclamation controversies are supposed to
be filed with the board of canvassers and
have to be resolved by the COMELEC within
seven days from receipt of evidence or
record.

24. POLITICAL PARTIES
• A political party is a political organization that
typically seeks to influence government policy,
usually by nominating their own candidates
and trying to seat them in political
office. [1] Parties participate in electoral
campaigns and educational outreach or
protest actions. Parties often espouse an
expressed ideology or vision bolstered by a
written platform with specific goals, forming
a coalition among disparate interests.

25. Functions of Political Parties
1. Parties draw together people who have similar
political philosophies and ideas. Whilst these people
may not agree on all matters (hence the existence of
factions and “tendencies”), parties are a means by
which people of broadly similar interests can meet,
organiZe and campaign.
2. Parties are the chief means by which political power
is exercised in Australia. All Federal, State and
Territory governments are composed of people who
belong to political parties. Electors usually vote for
parties, rather than for individual candidates.

26. 3. Parties select candidates to contest elections for public
office. This process is known as pre-selection. The choice
offered to voters is thus the choice offered by parties. This
is especially important in safe seats where one party
consistently wins. Since the parties provide the candidates
for election, it follows that parties also provide the nation’s
political leaders.
4. In the parliamentary arena, political parties provide
the government and opposition. The party or parties which
wins a majority of seats in the lower house, the House of
Representatives, forms the government. The party or
parties which win the second largest number of seats
becomes the Opposition. Much of the political debate is
defined in government versus opposition terms.

27. 5. In government and opposition, political parties
provide organisational support. The partymachine,
also known as the extra-parliamentary wing of the
party, is responsible for organising and financing
election campaigns, developing policies and recruiting
members. The organisational support of political
parties is vital to the stability and viability of a party’s
parliamentary members.
6. Parties articulate philosophies and develop
policies. All parties have methods of debating issues
and formulating policies to be presented to the
electorate during election campaigns. In government
or opposition, parties utilise these policy-making
processes to determine their attitude to legislation and
issues of the day.

28. 7. Parties are an avenue for community groups to influence
.
the decision-making process. Many pressure groups have
close links with political parties, such as trade unions with
the ALP, business groups with the Liberal Party, or farming
organisations with the National Party. Contact and access to
the organisational and parliamentary wings is considered
vital by groups aiming to influence the development or
implementation of public policy.
8. Parties are one of the main avenues for political debate and
discussion in the community. Since most members of
parliament are members of political parties, it follows that
parliamentary debate, questioning and scrutiny is focused
around their interests and preferences.
9. Parties are ultimately responsible for the structure of the
machinery of government. The organisation of the Public
Service and statutory authorities lies in the hands of the
government of the day. In practice, parties can make
appointments to the public sector from the ranks of their
members and supporters.

29. NON-PARTISAN
SYSTEM
SINGLE-PARTY PARTY TWO-PARTY
SYSTEM SYSTEM
SYSTEM
MULTI-PARTY
SYSTEM

30. • Nonpartisan democracy (also no-party democracy) is a
system of representative governmentor organization such
that universal and periodic elections take place without
reference to political parties.
• A single-party state, one-party system or single-party
system is a type of party system government in which a
single political party forms the government and no other
parties are permitted to run candidates for election.
Sometimes the term de facto single-party state is used to
describe a dominant-party systemwhere laws or practices
prevent the opposition from legally getting power.
Typically, single-party states hold the suppression
of political factions, except as transitory issue oriented
currents within the single party or permanent coalition as a
self evident good.

31. • A two-party system is a system where two major political
parties dominate voting in nearly allelections at every level of
government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are
members of one of the two major parties. Under a two-party
system, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the
legislature and is usually referred to as the majority party while the
other is the minority party.
• A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties
have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in
coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the
United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in
a multi-party system is normally larger than two but lower than ten.
It is a system where there are large amounts of major and minor
political parties that all hold a serious chance of receiving office,
and because they all compete, a majority may not come to be,
forcing the creation of a coalition

32. The Development of Philippine
Political Parties
• Philippine political parties are essentially
nonideological vehicles for personal and factional
political ambition. The party system in the early
1990s closely resembled that of the premartial
law years when the Nacionalista and Liberal
parties alternated in power. Although they lacked
coherent political programs, they generally
championed conservative social positions and
avoided taking any position that might divide the
electorate.

33. • Each party tried to appeal to all regions, all ethnic
groups, and all social classes and fostered national
unity by never championing one group or region.
Neither party had any way to enforce party discipline,
so politicians switched capriciously back and forth. The
parties were essentially pyramids of patronclient
relationships stretching from the remotest villages to
Manila. They existed to satisfy particular demands, not
to promote general programs. Because nearly all
senators and representatives were provincial
aristocrats, the parties never tackled the fundamental
national problem--the vastly inequitable distribution of
land, power, and wealth.

34. • Ferdinand Marcos mastered that party system, then
altered it by establishing an all-embracing ruling party
to be the sole vehicle for those who wished to engage
in political activity. He called it the New Society
Movement (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan). The New
Society Movement sought to extend Marcos's reach to
far corners of the country. Bureaucrats at all levels
were welladvised to join. The New Society Movement
offered unlimited patronage. The party won 163 of 178
seats in the National Assembly in 1978 and easily won
the 1980 local elections. In 1981 Marcos actually had
to create his own opposition, because no one was
willing to run against him.

35. PHILIPPINE ELECTORAL SYSTEM
• The Philippines is a functioning democracy, though popular
protests have forced out two presidents in almost more
than 20 years: first,Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 for alleged
electoral manipulation and second, Joseph Estrada in 2001
for allegedly plundering the economy. The country’s politics
have continued to be characterized by volatility. The
Philippines is still grappling with Muslim separatists,
predominantly those of the island of Mindanao. In addition,
the current president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, won a
contentious election in 2004 and is now facing an electoral
scandal, after a phone call between her and an election
official, taped before the election had concluded, turned
up. President Arroyo has denied she made any attempt to
influence the vote.

36. Open for Suggestions,
clarifications,
violent reactions
and your brilliant
ideas WILL BE
ACCEPTED.