Comelec sets rules on 'stray' votes for nuisance candidates

Votes cast for a nuisance candidate in the upcoming May polls does not automatically make it a stray vote, the Commission on Elections en banc said.

"If the person declared as a nuisance candidate, and whose Certificate of Candidacy has been cancelled or denied due course, has the same name and/or surname as a bona fide candidate for the same office, the votes cast shall not be considered stray but shall be counted and tallied for the bona fide candidate," the Comelec en banc Resolution 9599 said.

"If the person declared as a nuisance candidate, and whose Certificate of Candidacy has been cancelled or denied due course, does not have the same name and/or surname as a bona fide candidate for the same office, the votes cast for such nuisance shall be deemed stray," it said.

Resolution 9599 amends an earlier resolution of the poll body promulgated on September 25, 2012 which states that votes cast for nuisance candidates will be considered a stray vote.

The poll body's amendment to the resolution came after the Supreme Court ruled that votes cast for a nuisance candidate which has the same surname as that of a legitimate candidate are not stray but counted in favor of the latter, "remains a good law."

"Hence, the legal effect of such cancellation of a COC of a nuisance candidate cannot be equated with a candidate disqualified on grounds provided in the OEC [Omnibus Election Code] and Local Government Code," the High Court ruling said.

Under the OEC, nuisance candidates are individuals who filed their COCs but whose intent is on putting the election process "in mockery or disrepute or to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names of the registered candidates." (PNA)