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232. Disqualifications. -The following persons are disqualified from voting:

1. Any person delinquent in the payment of any public tax that may have accrued within four years.

2. Any person, who since August 13, 1898, has been convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction of an offense punishable by death or by imprisonment for more than eighteen months, such disability not having been removed by a full pardon.

3. Any person who has violated the oath of allegiance taken by him to the United States.

4. Insane or feeble-minded persons.

233. Certificate of Candidacy. The candidate for any office must file a certificate of candidacy with the provincial /board not less than ten days before the day set for the election. The certificate should contain the name of the person and his permission to have his candidacy announced; that he is a resident of the district of a province in which his candidacy is offered; that he is a duly qualified elector therein; and that he is eligible to the office.

No provincial or municipal officer can be reëlected for the third time, except after the lapse of a whole term.

234. Election Precincts. The municipal council of each municipality divides the municipality into election precincts for the purpose of making it convenient for electors to vote. Each precinct can have no more than four hundred voters and should comprise a continuous and compact territory. Maps or plans showing the boundaries of the precincts are kept posted at the polling place and at two other conspicuous public places in each precinct for at least forty-five days before election.

235. Polling Places. In each election precinct there is what is known as a polling place, designated by the municipal

council. Here the meetings of the board of inspectors of election for the registration of voters are held and the electors cast their votes. The polling place must be centrally located } and large enough to hold at least twenty voters at one time. It must be provided with the necessary ballot boxes, booths, guard rails surrounding the booths, stationery, and supplies. The number of voting booths is one for every fifty voters.

236. The Board of Inspectors.-Ninety days prior to the date of a general election, the municipal council appoints for each election precinct, three inspectors of election and one poll clerk. If during the previous election, one or more political parties have polled thirty per cent or over of the votes cast, two of the inspectors shall belong to the party which polled the largest number of votes and the other inspector shall belong to the party which polled the next largest number of votes. No person who is a candidate for public office is eligible as an inspector or poll clerk.

237. Registration of Voters. Before each general election, the board of inspectors in each election precinct hold meetings for the purpose of registering the names of persons qualified to vote. Voters are required to present their cedulas for the current year before they can be registered. Upon the completion of the list of voters, the board of inspectors files it with the municipal secretary.

If, during registration time, a person who applies for registration is challenged by any inspector, qualified voter, or candidate as to his qualifications to be a voter, the board of inspectors will examine the challenged party and take other evidence with respect to his qualifications and disqualifications. Any person who has been refused registration, or any party to a challenge questioning the right of another person to be registered, may apply to the provincial board of the province, or to any judge of first instance in the pro

vincial district, for an order directing the board of inspectors to take the action deemed proper. Names erroneously or wrongfully placed on the list may be stricken out upon application to the provincial board or to the judge of first instance.

238. Method of Voting. The polls are open from seven o'clock in the morning until six o'clock in the afternoon. While the polls are open, no person other than voters actually voting or waiting to vote, members of the board of inspectors, the poll clerk, and the necessary police and constabulary, can be present within thirty meters of the polling place.

Upon entering the polling place, the voter gives to one of the inspectors his name and residence together with such other information concerning himself as should appear on the registration list and may be requested of him by any of the inspectors. The inspector will then distinctly announce the voter's name and residence in a tone loud enough to be plainly heard throughout the polling place. If the person is entitled to vote and is not challenged, or, if challenged and the challenge is decided in his favor, the poll clerk will deliver to him one ballot correctly folded. No person other than an inspector or poll clerk will deliver to any person any official ballot, and no inspector shall deliver or permit to be delivered any official ballot to any person other than a voter at the time of voting, nor more than one ballot to such voter at one time. The voter will then retire to one of the empty polling booths and there prepare his ballot.

It is unlawful to erase any printing from the ballot or to add any distinguishing feature thereto, or to tear or deface it intentionally. A voter who cannot write, can require an inspector to assist him in the preparation of the ballot. After properly preparing his ballot, the voter immediately returns to the poll clerk, who again announces his name and resi

dence. The chairman of the board then receives the ballot and deposits it in the ballot box in the presence and view of the voter.

239. Canvass of Returns. As soon as the polls of an election are closed, the board of inspectors publicly counts V the votes and ascertains the result. It cannot adjourn or postpone the count until it shall be fully completed. During the counting of the votes by the board a number of qualified voters of the precinct, not to exceed six, representing the opposing candidates, will be allowed in the polling place as watchers. But the watchers are not allowed to touch the ballots or converse with the inspectors.

Before proceeding to count the ballots, the inspectors compare the registration lists and ascertain the number of persons who have voted. At the conclusion of the count, the totals are verified by the chairman and the other inspectors. In case of disagreement, a recount is made for such offices as may be necessary. Upon the completion of the count, the ། inspectors make and sign a written statement thereof in quadruplicate, showing the date of the election, the name of the municipality and the number of the precinct in which it was held, the whole number of ballots cast for each person for each office, the whole number of ballots rejected as marked, and the whole number objected to because marked but not rejected. One copy of this statement is filed with the municipal secretary; one is forwarded to the provincial treasurer; one is sent to the chief of the Executive Bureau, and one is retained in the custody of the inspectors.

All the ballots are returned to the ballot boxes, which are then locked and sealed and placed in the custody of the municipal secretary. The secretary retains the ballot boxes until after the final decision of election contests or until six months have elapsed.

The provincial board also meets as a board of canvassers as soon as practicable, but not later than thirty days after the election. The provincial treasurer then produces before it the statements filed with or delivered to him. As soon

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of Iloilo, the first Filipino to become Secretary of an Executive Department, that of Finance and Justice; a prominent member of the Demócrata Party

as all the statements are before the board of canvassers, it proceeds to canvass all the votes cast. It makes one statement of all the votes cast for each candidate for a provincial office and for each candidate for the Legislature. Upon the completion of these statements, the board of canvassers de

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