G.R. No. 221318 – 775 Phil. 523 – Political Law – Constitutional Law – Suffrage – Police Power – Regulation – Registration is not a Voter’s Qualification Requirement
In 2013, R.A. No. 10367 or An Act Providing for Mandatory Biometrics Voter Registration was enacted. The law provides that new and old voters must have their biometrics taken otherwise they will not be able to vote in any elections.
The Kabataan Party-List sought the nullification of the law on the ground that it violates Art. V of the Constitution – that such requirement imposed by the law is no different from the unconstitutional requirement of literacy and property because mere non-validation already absolutely curtails the exercise of the right of suffrage through deactivation.
ISSUE: Whether or not RA 10367 is constitutional.
HELD: Yes. The taking of biometrics is a registration process and not a qualification process. Voters are still qualified based on the constitutional provisions:
Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place wherein they propose to vote for at least six months immediately preceding the election. No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of suffrage.
Registration is not a qualification to vote. Registration is a means to regulate the exercise of suffrage. Before one can exercise the right to vote, one must first register. Registration as a necessary requisite to the right to vote. The State, in the exercise of police power, may enact laws to safeguard and regulate the act of voter’s registration for the ultimate purpose of conducting honest, orderly and peaceful election.
