Rules of Canvassing: How does Congress do the official count of votes for president and vice president?

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The unofficial count shows Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has won as president by an uncontested landslide, but the results of the presidential race won’t be official until the congressional canvass has been completed.

The more exciting race, however, is for the vice presidency because of the narrow margin between Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos and Camarines Rep. Leni Robredo, who is ahead in the unofficial count.

How will Philippine Congress count these votes to make the results official for the proclamation of the new president and vice president?

First things first

First, a joint canvassing committee composed of members of the House of Representatives and the Senate must be organized in a joint session of Congress.

The Constitution says senators and congressmen shall meet in a Joint Public Session no later than 30 days after the election to canvass the votes for the two highest officials.

The Joint Public Session shall be held at the Plenary Hall of the House on the date and time set in a concurrent resolution approved by both chambers.

The Senate President and House Speaker will each appoint seven members to the Joint Committee, including a chairperson and four alternate members for each chamber.

A Congress member who was a candidate for president or vice president cannot be appointed to the Joint Committee.

Also read: Marcos insists on separate canvassing of votes for VP

Robredo welcomes system audit proposed by Marcos

Opening of the Certificates of Canvass.

In the presence of the members of the Senate and the House, the Senate President shall open election documents in the order they were received. These are the electronically transmitted Certificates of Canvass (CoCs) and manually counted and physically delivered CoCs.

The opening of the CoCs can be delegated to the Secretary of the Senate or to the Secretary of the House of Representatives.

Those tasked to open the documents “shall record the condition of the ballot box, the special diplomatic electoral pouch and the envelope containing the CoC.”

Canvass of votes

The Joint Committee shall canvass the election documents in the order they were received.

The Joint Committee shall generate and print a copy of the electronically transmitted CoC from the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS), then compare the printed copy of the electronically transmitted CoC with the printed copy of the CoC physically delivered by the Provincial Boards of Canvassers (PBOCs), City Boards of Canvassers (CBOCs) and District Boards of Canvassers (DBOCs) to Congress.

For the CoC of the overseas absentee voting (OAV), the Joint Committee shall compare the printed copy of the electronically transmitted CoC with the printed copy of the CoC contained in the special diplomatic electoral pouch physically delivered to the Senate.

The Joint Committee shall then “ascertain” that the number of votes cast for each presidential and vice presidential candidate in the electronically transmitted CoCs and in the physically delivered CoCs “are identical.”

If there is any discrepancy between the electronically transmitted CoC and physically delivered CoC as to the number of votes cast for any presidential or vice presidential candidate, “the Joint Committee shall require the PBOC/CBOC/DBOC concerned to personally appear before it within twenty-four (24) hours and explain the discrepancy.”

In the case of OAV, the Joint Committee shall require the Special Board of Canvasser (SBOC) concerned to explain the discrepancy. “In lieu of personal appearance, the SBOC of a particular country/territory/post may be contacted through any form or means of communication deemed safe and reliable by the Joint Committee.”

The Joint Committee may order the production, examination and comparison of the Compact Disc/s (CD), the Secure Digital (SD) cards (both the memory and/or the back-up cards) from the Vote Counting Machine/s and/or CCS Machine, the audit logs and/or the printed or generated Statement of Votes (SoVs).

If the issue remains unresolved, representatives of the candidates questioning the official results may appeal their case to the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) after the winning candidates are proclaimed.

Also read: Comelec defers action on Marcos audit request