Digest: Punzalan v. Commission on Elections (289 SCRA 702, 1998)

Facts: the Municipal Board of Canvassers (MBC) proclaimed Ferdinand Meneses as the duly elected mayor, having garnered a total of 10,301 votes against Danilo Manalastas' 9,317 votes and Ernesto Punzalan's 8,612 votes. On May 30, 1995, Danilo Manalastas filed an election protest. One of the arguments is that ballot should be invalidated because BEI chairperson failed to affix his/her signature

Issue: Whether or not ballot should be invalidated for the failure of the BEI chairperson to affix his signature.

Ruling: Section 24 of R.A. No. 7166 requires the BEI chairperson to affix his/her signature at the back of the ballot. However, the mere failure to do so does not invalidate the same. As a rule, the failure of the BEI inspectors or any member of the board to comply with his/her mandated administrative responsibility, i.e. signing, authenticating and thumb marking of ballots, should not penalize the voter with disenfranchisement.