BENITO V.

COMELEC
Topic: Postponement of election, jurisdiction

ONE LINER:
It is the COMELEC en banc which has the exclusive power to postpone, to declare a failure of election, or to call a special election.

In relation thereto, Section 6 of the Omnibus Election Code provides for the failure of election. TWO pre-conditions must exist before a
failure of election may be declared, thus:
(1) no voting has been held in any precinct or precincts due to force majeure, violence or terrorism; and
(2) the votes not cast therein are sufficient to affect the results of the election.

The cause of such failure may arise before or after the casting of votes or on the day of the election.

FACTS:
When Calanogas, Lanao del Sur Mayoralty candidate Pagayawan won by 48 votes over candidate Benito in the May 1998 elections, the
latter filed a petition, among others, to declare failure of election in precincts 15A, 6A/6A1 and 17A. Allegedly, five election precincts were
clustered in Sultan Disimban Elementary School, namely, precincts 15A, 6A/6A1, 17A, 2A/2A1 and 13A. On election day, voting was
disrupted before noon by armed men. Benito asserted that voting never resumed that day, contrary to the declaration of Pagayawan that
voting resumed at 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon. The Comelec ruled against Benito and, hence, this petition for certiorari under Rule 65.

The contradictory declarations of the opposing parties are questions of facts and not proper subjects of inquiry in a petition
for certiorari under Rule 65. It is not grave abuse of discretion for the Comelec to refuse giving credit to either party's version. At any rate,
the Court noted that it is odd that Benito singled out only 3 precincts when there were 2 other precincts in the same school threatened by
armed men.

Further, there cannot be a failure of election in a political unit if the will of the majority has not been defiled and can be ascertained, as in
the case at bar.

In a sense, petitioner equates failure of elections to the low percentage of votes cast vis-a-vis the number of registered voters in the subject
election precincts. However, [t]here can be failure in a political unit only if the will of the majority has been defiled and cannot be
ascertained. But, if it can be determined, it must be accorded respect. After all, there is no provision in our election laws which requires
that a majority of registered voters must cast their votes. All the law requires is that a winning candidate must be elected by a plurality of
valid votes, regardless of the actual number of ballots cast. Thus, even if less than 25% of the electorate in the questioned precincts cast
their votes, the same must still be respected.

Hence, the Comelec's Resolution was affirmed and the petition for certiorari was dismissed.