Raffle of party-list order on 2022 ballots set December 14

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will hold a raffle of party-list groups on December 14 to determine the order that their names will appear on the official ballots for the 2022 elections.

The raffle was originally set on December 10 but the poll body rescheduled it to give rejected party-list groups more time to seek temporary relief with the Supreme Court.

For the first time, representatives of party-list groups will be allowed to witness the raffle only virtually in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, according Comelec Resolution No. 10733, which was released on Thursday, November 25.

A total of 166 party-list groups have been allowed by the poll body to join the December 14 raffle – 152 of them are registered, while 14 have a pending incident.

The list, which was contained in a December 1 Comelec resolution, also named 107 party-list groups whose motions for reconsideration were denied after their applications for registration were initially rejected. This means they cannot join the raffle unless they secure a status quo ante order from the Supreme Court.

Qualified party-list groups are each entitled to one slot in the MS Teams videoconference platform to watch the raffle.

A Comelec commissioner or an authorized poll body personnel – who is present at the Commission en banc session hall in Palacio Del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila – will then initiate the software to be used for the activity.

Once the order of names has been generated, representatives of the party-list groups must acknowledge the results through a verbal manifestation, and accomplish an online form.

“Refusal or inexcusable failure by the authorized representatives to accomplish the aforementioned consent and acknowledgment MS Forms shall be considered as a waiver of their listing in the raffle,” the resolution read.

“Consequently, these party-list groups, organizations, or coalitions shall be placed last in the list, in alphabetical order,” it added.