With no boxes to tick or holes to punch, the need to imprint the names of candidates on the minds of voters makes personality and recognition the name of the game.
One common tactic is for a candidate's supporter to grab and complete a batch of empty ballots before passing them -- along with a few small bills -- to voters waiting outside.
The hurried return to manual counting adds to the complexity.
"Because Comelec is going to be forced to use the paper ballot, it's almost guaranteed there's going to be major cheating," said Scott Harrison, a former executive with the US Central Intelligence Agency and now the head of the Pacific Strategies and Assessments consultancy in Manila.
"In general, there will be far less cheating in Metro Manila and far more cheating in the provinces."
Analysts say Arroyo has a distinct advantage as the first sitting president to contest an election since the Marcos era.
Because she rose to power from vice president in 2001, when popular protests chased Estrada from office, Arroyo could ignore a one-term limit written into the post-Marcos Constitution and run for a fresh six years with the benefit of state machinery.
There are rules meant to limit campaign spending, but enforcing rules is not always this country's strong point.
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