Editing Politics of the Philippines (section)

== Elections ==
{{Main|Elections in the Philippines}}
[[File:People line up to vote at a precinct in San Joaquin, Mabalacat City, Pampanga, Philippines.jpg|thumb|Voting lines in [[Mabalacat]] during the [[2013 Philippine general election|2013 elections]]]]

Since 1935 and the establishment of the [[Commonwealth of the Philippines]], elections have been administered by the [[Commission on Elections (Philippines)|Commission on Elections]] (COMELEC). The elected officials are the president, vice president, members of Congress, regional governors and assemblymen, provincial governors, vice governors, and board members, city and municipal mayors, vice mayors and councilors, and [[barangay]] (village) chairmen and councilors. Elections are for [[fixed-term election|fixed terms]]. Most elected officials have three-year terms, with the exceptions being the president, vice president, and senators, whose terms last for six years.<ref name="Teehankee2002">{{cite book |last1=Teehankee |first1=Julio |editor1-last=Croissant |editor1-first=Aurel |title=Electoral politics in Southeast & East Asia |date=2002 |publisher=Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung |location=Singapore |isbn=978-981-04-6020-4 |url=https://library.fes.de/fulltext/iez/01361inf.htm |access-date=2 December 2020 |chapter=Electoral Politics in the Philippines}}</ref>{{rp|162–163}}

All terms above the barangay level begin and end on June 30 of the election year,<ref>{{harvnb|Philippine Constitution|1987}}, "The term of office of elective local officials, except barangay officials, which shall be determined by law...at noon on the thirtieth day of June next following their election", Article X § 8.</ref> and all elected officials are limited to three consecutive terms, except for senators,<ref name="Querubin">{{cite web |url=https://leitner.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/resources/papers/Querubin_Term_Limits.pdf |title=Political Reform and Elite Persistence: Term Limits and Political Dynasties in the Philippines |last=Querubin |first=Pablo |publisher=Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies |date=October 2011 |access-date=December 24, 2020 |page=3}}</ref> and the vice president, who are limited to two, and for the president, who cannot be reelected.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|201}} 12 of the 24 senators are up for election every 3 years. All are elected on a national basis, with voters selecting up to 12 names from the list of all candidates. It is not required to fill out 12 names for the vote to be valid, and voters select 7.5 candidates on average. This system increases the importance of name familiarity, with up to one-fifth of voters reporting they decide upon their votes while inside the voting booth.<ref name="David">{{cite journal |last1=David |first1=Clarissa C. |last2=San Pascual |first2=Ma. Rosel S. |title=Predicting vote choice for celebrity and political dynasty candidates in Philippine national elections |journal=Philippine Political Science Journal |date=December 21, 2016 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=82–93 |doi=10.1080/01154451.2016.1198076 |s2cid=156251503 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ppsj/37/2/article-p82_1.xml}}</ref>{{rp|84–85}} All positions are voted on separately, including those of president and vice-president.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|234}}

Despite the [[plurality voting]] system used to elect presidents, elections are effectively a [[multi-party system]]. Prior to the Marcos regime, the country effectively had a [[two-party system]], however the restriction of presidents to one term in the 1987 has likely prevented that system from reemerging.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Choi |first1=Jungug |title=Philippine Democracies Old and New |journal=Asian Survey |date=May 2001 |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=488–501 |doi=10.1525/as.2001.41.3.488 |url=http://online.ucpress.edu/as/article-pdf/41/3/488/342157/as_2001_41_3_488.pdf |access-date=August 23, 2020 |publisher=University of California Press |issn=0004-4687 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{rp|488–489}} Even during the two-party era, internal party structures were weak. Three presidents had previously switched parties after falling to obtain the nomination in their previous party's conference.<ref name="Manacsa">{{cite journal |last1=Manacsa |first1=Rodelio Cruz |last2=Tan |first2=Alexander C. |title=Manufacturing Parties: Re-examining the Transient Nature of Philippine Political Parties |journal=Party Politics |date=November 1, 2005 |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=748–765 |doi=10.1177/1354068805057608 |s2cid=144958165 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1354068805057608 |access-date=November 17, 2020}}</ref>{{rp|754}} Under the 1987 constitution, elections above the barangay level are held every three years since 1992 on the second Monday of May,<ref name="Atienza">{{cite book |last1=Atienza |first1=Maria Ela L. |last2=Arugay |first2=Aries A. |last3=Dee |first3=Francis Joseph A. |last4=Encinas-Franco |first4=Jean |last5=Go |first5=Jan Robert R. |last6=Panao |first6=Rogelio Alicor L. |last7=Jimenez |first7=Alinia Jesam D. |editor1-last=Atienza |editor1-first=Maria Ela L. |editor2-last=Cats-Baril |editor2-first=Amanda |title=Constitutional Performance Assessment of the 1987 Philippine Constitution |date=2020 |isbn=978-91-7671-299-3 |pages=8–9, 26–27, 37 |publisher=International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and Center for Integrative and Development Studies |url=https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/constitutional-performance-assessment-1987-philippine-constitution.pdf |access-date=December 1, 2020}}</ref> although senate seats, the presidency, and the vice presidency are only [[Philippine presidential elections|contested]] every six years since 1992.<ref name="Consolidation"/>{{rp|216}}

Ever since elections were first introduced by the United States,<ref name="Teehankee2017">{{cite book |last1=Teehankee |first1=Julio |editor1-last=Schafferer |editor1-first=Christian |title=Election Campaigning in East and Southeast Asia: Globalization of Political Marketing |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-94123-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SgwkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT76 |chapter=Electoral Campaigning in the Philippines}}</ref> [[single-winner election]]s have been carried out using a [[plurality voting system]]: the candidate with the highest number of votes is elected.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|149}} Multiple-winner elections, except for representatives elected through [[Party-list representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines|the party-list system]], are done via [[Multiple non-transferable vote|plurality-at-large voting]].<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|162}} Each voter has ''x'' votes, from which the ''x'' candidates with the highest number of votes are elected.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.uchicago.edu/~rmyerson/research/philippines_rbm.pdf |title=A Theoretical Perspective on Possible Political Reforms for the Philippines |last=Myerson |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Myerson |publisher=University of Chicago |date=August 2016 |access-date=June 5, 2021 |page=2}}</ref> A constitutional commission was assembled after the 1986 [[People Power Revolution]] in part to consider the process of elections. It determined to keep plurality/[[first-past-the-post voting]] for 80% of seats, but to use a [[mixed-member proportional representation]] party-list system to allocate up to 20% of seats. However, such a system was not used until the [[1998 Philippine general election|1998 general election]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hunter |first1=Jessica |title=Creative Approaches Used in Philippines; Non-traditional Funding Sources Secured |journal=Elections Today |date=1998 |volume=7 |issue=Summer 1998 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02AEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT21 |access-date=25 April 2022 |publisher=IFES |language=en |issn=1073-6719}}</ref><ref name="Shin">{{cite book |author=Jae Hyeok Shin |editor-last1=Tomsa |editor-first1=Dirk |editor-last2=Ufen |editor-first2=Andreas |title=Party Politics in Southeast Asia: Clientelism and Electoral Competition in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-51942-7 |pages=104–105 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQxflEvYWSkC&pg=PA104 |chapter=Electoral system choice and parties in new democracies: lessons from the Philippines and Indonesia}}</ref> which followed the passing of the Party-List System Act in 1995. Prior to this law passing, sectoral representatives were appointed by the President.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Casiple |first1=Ramon C |title=The Party-List Path to a Broadened Philippine Democracy |journal=Public Policy |date=June 2003 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |url=https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/Public-policy-Journal-vol.7-no.1-Jan-June-2003.pdf |access-date=April 25, 2022 |publisher=University of the Philippines |issn=0118-8526 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509093508/https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/Public-policy-Journal-vol.7-no.1-Jan-June-2003.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2021 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Valencia City local elections, May 2013 - 3.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Electoral official in [[Valencia, Bukidnon|Valencia]] checking an [[electoral roll]] during the [[2013 Philippine general election|2013 elections]]]]

A group participating in the party-list system (which may not be running in any single-member constituencies) must receive 2% of votes cast to enter congress, and can win a maximum of three seats. The 1998 election saw 123 organizations run, and only 32% of voters selecting a party-list organization, meaning only 13 organizations passed the 2% threshold taking up only 14 of the 52 seats allocated to party-list organizations. COMELEC decided to allocate the remaining seats to organizations that had not reached the 2% threshold despite prior rules indicating they would be distributed among parties that passed the threshold by vote share. Following a legal challenge, the Supreme Court overruled COMELEC, implementing its own system to allocate the seats, limiting the maximum three seats to only the most-voted organization. In the run-up to the 2001 election COMELEC approved over 160 organizations. Following a legal challenge at the Supreme Court COMELEC all but 42 were disqualified, including seven which had won more than 2% of the votes. Two court later nullified two of the disqualifications.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Casiple |first1=Ramon C |title=The Party-List Path to a Broadened Philippine Democracy |journal=Public Policy |date=June 2003 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=6–13 |url=https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/Public-policy-Journal-vol.7-no.1-Jan-June-2003.pdf#page=9 |access-date=August 26, 2020 |publisher=University of the Philippines |issn=0118-8526 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509093508/https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/Public-policy-Journal-vol.7-no.1-Jan-June-2003.pdf#page=9 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The 1986 commission also kept the "open ballot" system, where voters had to write the name of their chosen candidate on the voting form.<ref name="Shin"/> The distribution of sample filled-in ballots to voters by politicians provided more opportunities for patronage through the determination of which other names appear on a politicians sample ballot, and increased the power of local politicians who were better able to distribute these ballots to voters.<ref name="Schaffer"/> The [[1992 Philippine presidential election|1992]] and [[2004 Philippine presidential election|2004]] presidential elections were contested in court following accusations of [[electoral fraud]]. Neither case succeeded.<ref name="Hedman2010">{{cite journal |last1=Hedman |first1=Eva-Lotta E. |title=Democratisation & new voter mobilisation in Southeast Asia: beyond machine politics?: reformism, populism and Philippine elections. |journal=IDEAS Reports - Special Reports |date=2010 |volume=SR005 |pages=30–31 |url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/43564/1/Democratisation%20&%20new%20voter%20mobilisation%20in%20Southeast%20Asia_beyond%20machine%20politics(lsero).pdf |access-date=August 23, 2020}}</ref>

[[Vote counting in the Philippines|Vote counting in these elections]] could take up to 18 hours, and tabulation could take up to 40 days. In 1992 COMELEC adopted a strategic plan to modernize voting, and the first electronic vote-counting pilot test took place in the [[1996 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao general election]]. This pilot was considered a success.<ref name="Goldsmith">{{cite web |url=https://www.ndi.org/sites/default/files/6_Philippines.pdf |title=Case Study Report on the Philippines 2010 Elections |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Ben |last2=Ruthrauf |first2=Holly |publisher=National Democratic Institute |pages=276–277 |access-date=August 24, 2020}}</ref> In 1997 a law was based calling for the open ballots to be replaced by pre-printed ballots.<ref name="Schaffer"/> However, it was not until the May 2010 elections that electronic vote-counting was used for a national election.<ref name="Goldsmith"/> This change in the process saw ballots shift from the "open ballot" system to ballots where voters fill in ovals next to the candidate names.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://asiafoundation.org/2010/05/05/will-automated-elections-in-the-philippines-increase-public-confidence/ |title=Will Automated Elections in the Philippines Increase Public Confidence? |last=Meisburger |first=Tim |publisher=The Asia Foundation |date=May 5, 2020 |access-date=August 24, 2020 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509095010/https://asiafoundation.org/2010/05/05/will-automated-elections-in-the-philippines-increase-public-confidence/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> It has been reported by COMELEC that this new system reduces the ability for vote-buyers to monitor how people vote.<ref name="Schaffer"/> It also reduced vote count time, with manual counting previously taking perhaps months.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reyes |first1=Vincente |title=The Impact of Automation on Elections: Case Study of the May 2010 Philippine Presidential Contests |journal=Journal of Developing Societies |date=August 28, 2013 |volume=29 |issue=3 |page=262 |doi=10.1177/0169796X13494276 |s2cid=154904425 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0169796X13494276 |access-date=November 19, 2020}}</ref>

[[National election|National]] and [[local election]]s began to be held on the same day from May 1992, following the passage of Republic Act (RA) 7166.<ref name="Manacsa"/>{{rp|757}} The country has a [[voting age]] of 18.<ref name="Nohlen">{{cite book |last1=Nohlen |first1=Dieter |last2=Grotz |first2=Florian |last3=Hartmann |first3=Christof |title=Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume I: Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia |date=15 November 2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-153041-8 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BVFBXa69tWMC&pg=PA14}}</ref> Under the 1987 constitution all registered parties are allowed [[poll watcher]]s, whereas under the previous system poll watchers were only allowed from the two main parties.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|179}} [[Campaign advertising|Political advertising]] was allowed beginning in 2001. Various forms of [[electoral fraud]] occur throughout the various elections, and are even expected by a majority of voters. Vote buying is especially prevalent, and campaigns are estimated to cost as much as 16 times the legal campaign finance limit.<ref name="You5"/>{{rp|103–104}}