The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that votes cast for nuisance candidates whose certificates of candidacy (COC) have been canceled will be considered stray and will no longer be credited to any other candidate.
In a decision announced Wednesday, the Court abandoned the long-standing precedent that transferred votes for nuisance bets to “legitimate” candidates with similar names—a doctrine rooted in manual elections where voter intent was interpreted from handwritten ballots.
The SC said this rule is no longer applicable under the automated election system (AES), where machines read complete names and aliases shaded by voters, removing ambiguity.
“Under AES, there will no longer be ‘vague votes’… there should no longer be any room for confusion,” the Court said in a statement on Thursday.
The tribunal also stressed that the previous rule had “no basis in law,” citing Sections 69 and 211 of the Omnibus Election Code, which state that a nuisance candidate is deemed never to have filed a COC—making votes for them automatically stray.
“A rule that is without unequivocal basis in law… usurps the very sovereign will that the rule intends to protect,” the Court said.
The ruling overturns outcomes influenced by the old doctrine, including the 2022 Negros Oriental gubernatorial race. The Commission on Elections had credited votes for nuisance candidate “Ruel Degamo” to Roel Degamo, who later won but was assassinated in March 2023. Pryde Henry Teves, the original victor before the vote transfer, was subsequently linked to the governor’s murder.
The SC’s new ruling will apply to future elections under the automated system.
