AN ACT PROVIDING FOR MANDATORY BIOMETRICS VOTER REGISTRATION

Case Overview and Summary

Summary of Republic Act No. 10367 (Mandatory Biometrics Voter Registration Act)

Declaration of Policy (Section 1)
- Establish a clean, complete, permanent and updated list of voters through biometrics technology.

Definition of Terms (Section 2)
- Commission: Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
- Biometrics: Quantitative analysis for positive identification (e.g., voice, photograph, fingerprint, signature, iris)
- Data Capture Machine (DCM): Device that captures biometrics
- Validation: Process of taking biometrics of registered voters whose biometrics have not been captured
- Deactivation: Removal of voter registration record from precinct book for failure to comply with validation
- Reactivation: Reinstatement of deactivated voter

Who Shall Submit for Validation (Section 3)
- Registered voters whose biometrics have not been captured

Who Shall Conduct the Validation (Section 4)
- City or Municipal Election Officer

Commencement of Validation (Section 5)
- COMELEC shall conduct validation beginning July 1, 2013, consistent with continuing registration under Republic Act No. 8189.

Publication and Notice Requirement (Section 6)
- COMELEC shall publish commencement of validation in two newspapers of general circulation.
- City or Municipal Election Officer shall serve individual written notices by registered mail and post list of voters concerned in bulletin board and local COMELEC office.

Deactivation (Section 7)
- Voters who fail to submit for validation on or before the last day of filing of application for registration for the May 2016 elections shall be deactivated.

Reactivation (Section 8)
- Deactivated voters may apply for reactivation after the May 2016 elections following the procedure in Section 28 of Republic Act No. 8189.

Database Security (Section 9)
- Database generated by biometric registration shall be secured by COMELEC and shall not be used for any purpose other than electoral exercises.

Mandatory Biometrics Registration (Section 10)
- COMELEC shall implement a mandatory biometrics registration system for new voters.

Prohibited Acts (Section 11)
- Prohibiting, impeding, obstructing or preventing a voter from submitting biometrics through force, intimidation or monetary consideration is an election offense punishable under Sections 263 and 264 of Batas Pambansa Bilang 881 (Omnibus Election Code).
- Unjustifiably and without due process, causing the deactivation or reactivation of any registered voter is an election offense punishable under Sections 263 and 264 of Batas Pambansa Bilang 881 (Omnibus Election Code).

Rules and Regulations (Section 12)
- COMELEC shall promulgate implementing rules and regulations within 60 days after the effectivity of this Act.

Separability Clause (Section 13)
- If any part of this Act is held invalid or unconstitutional, the other parts shall remain valid and effective.

Repealing Clause (Section 14)
- All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations inconsistent with this Act are repealed or modified accordingly.

Effectivity Clause (Section 15)
- This Act shall take effect 15 days after its publication in at least two newspapers of general circulation.