Rules for the appreciation of ballots.
Section 149
SEC. 149. Rules for the appreciation of ballots.—In the reading and appreciation of ballots the following rules shall be observed:1. Any ballot where only the Christian name of candidate or only his surname appears is valid for such candidate, if there is no other candidate with the same name or surname for the same office; but when the word written in the ballot is at the same time the Christian name of a candidate and the surname of his opponent, the vote shall be counted in favor of the latter. 2. A name or surname incorrectly written which, when read, has a sound equal or similar to that of the real name or surname of a candidate shall be counted in his favor. 3. When the name of a candidate appears in two spaces of the ballot, it shall be counted in favor of the candidate for the office with respect to which he is a candidate. The vote for the office for which he is not a candidate shall be counted as stray. 4. When in a space in the ballot there appears a name that is erased and another clearly written, the ballot is valid for the latter. 5. Ballots which contain prefixes such as "Sr.", "Mr. "Datu", "Don", "Guinoo", "Hon.", "Dr.", "Gob.", or suffixes like "hijo", "Jr.", "Segundo", are valid. 6. The erroneous initial of the name which accompanies the correct surname of a candidate, the erroneous initial of the surname accompanying the correct name of a candidate, or the erroneous intermediate initial between the correct name and surname of a candidate does not annul the vote in favor of the latter. 7. The fact that there exists a person who is not a candidate with the name or surname of a candidate does not prevent the adjudication of the vote to the latter. 8. Ballots wholly written in Arabic in localities where it is of general use are valid. To read them the board may employ any person who upon oath can do so impartially. 9. The use of nicknames and appellations of affection and friendship, if accompanied by the name or surname of the candidate, does not annul such vote, except when they were used as a means to identify their respective voters. 10. Any ballot written with crayola, lead pencil or with ink, wholly or in part, is valid. 11. Where there are two or more candidates voted for an office for which the law authorizes the election of only one person, the ballot shall not be counted in favor of any of them, but this shall not affect the validity of the other votes contained therein. 12. If the candidates voted for senators, for councilors or for other offices for which the election of two or more candidates is required exceed the number to be elected, the ballot is valid, but the votes shall be counted only in favor of the candidates whose names were firstly written by the voter until the authorized number is covered. 13 Any vote in favor of a person who has not filed a certificate of candidacy or in favor of a candidate for an office for which he did not present himself, shall be void and counted as a stray vote but shall not invalidate the whole ballot. 14. Ballots containing the name of a candidate printed and posted on a blank space of the ballot or affixed thereto through any mechanical process are totally null and void. 15.Any vote containing initials only or which is illegible or which does not sufficiently identify the candidate for whom it is intended shall not be valid, but this shall not invalidate the whole ballot. 16. When there are two or more candidates for an office with the same name or surname, the voter shall, in order that his vote may be counted, add the correct name, surname or initial that will identify the candidate for whom he votes. 17. Circles, crosses or lines put on the spaces on which the voter has not voted shall be considered as signs to indicate his Resistance from voting and shall not invalidate the ballot. 18. Unless it should clearly appear that they have been deliberately put by the voter to serve as identification marks, commas, dots, lines, or hyphens between the name and surname of a candidate, or in other parts of the ballot, traces of the letters "t", "j', and other similar ones, the first letters or syllables of names which the voter does not continue, the use of two or more kinds of writing, and unintentional or accidental nourishes, strokes, or stains, shall be considered innocent and shall not invalidate the ballot. 19. If a voter has written on the proper space of his ballot for national offices nothing more than the name of a political party which has duly nominated official candidates, said ballot shall be deemed as a vote for each and every one of the official candidates of such party for the respective offices. 20. If a voter should vote for individual candidates for national offices, only the names of the candidates written by him in the respective blank spaces of his ballot shall be considered as validly voted for even though he has written on the corresponding space the name of a political party which has nominated official candidates. 21. The accidental tearing or perforation of a ballot does not annul it. 22. Failure to remove the detachable number from a ballot does not annul such ballot. 23. Any ballot which clearly appears to have been filled by two distinct persons before it was deposited in the ballot box during the voting is totally null and void. (C.A. 357-144; C. A. 666)