document_title: Elections in the Philippines

question_text: who has the right to vote in philippines

question_tokens: who has the right to vote in philippines

text: Elections in the Philippines

text: Voting[edit]

text: Qualification[edit]

text: Every citizen 18 years old or above on Election Day who has been a resident of the Philippines for at least a year and for at least six months in the place he is registering, and is not otherwise disqualified by law, may vote. In order to actually vote, a citizen has to register. The COMELEC has a registration period for several months prior to the election. Those who are not registered will not appear on the voters' list and are ineligible to vote despite being qualified to do so.

text: People aged 15 to 18 may vote in Sangguniang Kabataan elections. Same with their adult counterparts, the COMELEC has a registration period a few months prior to the election.

text: Absentee voters[edit]

text: Absentee voters are divided into two types: the local absentee voters and the overseas absentee voters. Local absentee voters include people who are working during Election Day. These include soldiers, policemen, government employees and the like. Overseas absentee voters are Filipinos residing abroad. They are eligible to vote on national positions only (president, vice-president, senators and party-list representatives). Overseas absentee voters may vote in Philippine embassies and consulates, and voting begins as early as 4 months prior to the election. The voting can be as long as 6 months in a very few situations.

text: Process[edit]

text: Once a registered voter finds his/her name in the voters' list and locates the correct precinct, he may queue in line for the distribution of the ballot.

text: Prior to the 2010 elections, voters have to write the names of the candidates next to the positions in which they are running. COMELEC-approved nicknames maybe used by the voters in writing the names. After the polling period ends, the Board of Election Inspectors (or the teachers manning the polling precinct) counts the ballots by hand. Once all the ballots are counted, the election returns will now be sent to the city or municipal Board of Canvassers, political parties and other groups.

text: The city or municipal Board of Canvassers canvasses the votes from all polling precincts within their jurisdiction and prepares two documents: a Statement of Votes (SOV) in which all votes from all candidates in all positions per precinct is listed; and a Certificate of Canvass (COC), a document showing the vote totals of all candidates within the Board of Canvassers' jurisdiction.

text: If the city or municipal Board of Canvassers' jurisdiction is an independent city with its own congressional district, they will send their SOV and COC to the national Board of Canvassers (the COMELEC for senate and party-list elections, Congress for presidential and vice presidential elections). If it is otherwise, they will send their SOV and COC to the provincial Board of Canvassers where the votes as stated from the city or municipal COC will be canvassed. The provincial Board of Canvassers sends their SOV and COC to the national Board of Canvassers once canvassing is done. The national Board of Canvassers then canvasses all COCs and declares the winners for national positions.

text: Election automation[edit]

text: Since the 2010 elections, the voters have to shade the oval that was indicated before the candidate's name, and a voting machine manufactured by Smartmatic automatically counts each ballot as it is fed into it. The results are then printed as the election return and sent electronically to the city or municipal Board of Canvassers.

text: In 2016, for the third time in a row, the Philippines automated their elections using electronic vote counting machines. The deployment of 92,500 of these machines was the largest in the world. Brazil and India, countries which also use technology to process their votes, employ e-voting instead of an automated count.[1]

text: The Philippines stands today with Brazil, Estonia, Belgium and Venezuela at the forefront of election technology adoption.

text: Schedule[edit]

text: Election[edit]

text: Fixed-term elections[edit]

text: National and local elections are held on the second Monday of May every third year starting 1992. The presidential and vice presidential elections are held every six years. Election Days in which the president and vice president and barangay officials are not elected are called "midterm elections"; Election Days in which the president and vice president are elected are called "presidential elections." Barangay-level officials, although are currently elected in the same year as the other officials, are elected separately the succeeding months (see below).

text: From 1949 to 1971, election days are held every second Tuesday of November of every odd-numbered year with the presidential and vice presidential election held the every fourth year starting from 1951.

text: Barangay-level elections, starting from 2007, are to be held every three years during the last Monday of October, although these elections are frequently postponed (and incumbents' terms are extended) as a cost-saving measure. Elections for the positions in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), starting from 2011, are to be held every three years during the second Monday of May.

text:
Position
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

Type
Presidential (May)
Barangay (October)
None
Midterm (May)
Barangay (October)
None
Presidential (May)
Barangay (October)

President and
vice president
President and vice president
None
President and vice president

Senate
Seats contested during even-numbered years (12 seats)
None
Seats contested during odd-numbered years (12 seats)
None
Seats contested during even-numbered years (12 seats)

House of Representatives
All seats
None
All seats
None
All seats

ARMM
None
All positions
None
All positions

Provinces, cities and municipalities
All positions
None
All positions
None
All positions

Barangays
All positions
None
All positions except SK
None
All positions

text: Inauguration[edit]

text:
Position
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

Type
Presidential (June)
Barangay (November)
None
Midterm (June)
Barangay (November)
None
Presidential (June)
Barangay (November)

President and
vice president
June 30
None
June 30

Senate
June 30
None
June 30
None
June 30

House
June 30
None
June 30
None
June 30

ARMM
None
June 30
None

Provinces, cities and municipalities
June 30
None
June 30
None
June 30

Barangays
November 30
None
November 30
None
November 30

text: Elected offices[edit]

text:
Position
Number

President
1

Vice president
1

Senators
12

House of Representatives (district)
1

House of Representatives (party-list)
1

Governor
1*

Vice governor
1*

Board members
1 to 7*

Mayor
1

Vice mayor
1

Councilors
4 to 12

Total presidential
22 to 39

Total midterm
20 to 37

Regional governor
1

Regional vice governor
1

Regional assemblymen
3

Total ARMM
5

Barangay captain
1

Barangay councilor (kagawad)
7

Total barangay
8

SK chairman
1

SK councilor (kagawad)
7

Total SK
8

*Some cities do not elect provincial officials.

text: In a presidential election year, a voter may vote for as much as 34 names and a party-list organization. In ARMM elections, a voter may vote for five names, and in barangay elections, a voter may vote for eight names. A voter for the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK, youth council) may vote for eight names; currently, SK voters are aged 15 to 18 years old with only the SK voters aged 18 years old may vote for other barangay officials.

text: President and vice president[edit]

text: Each voter is entitled to one vote each for the duration of the election. The voter may split his or her ticket. The candidate with the most votes wins the position; there is no run-off election, and the president and vice president may come from different parties. If two or more candidates emerge with an equal and highest number of votes, one of them will be elected by the Senate and the House of Representatives, voting separately.

text: Congress[edit]

text: Senators[edit]

text: The Senate has 24 members, and 12 members are elected every election; hence, each voter is entitled to twelve votes for the Senate in every election. The voter may not complete the twelve votes for the Senate, but s/he must not surpass the twelve votes or else his/her ballot for that position will be nullified. With the entire country as one at-large district, the twelve candidates with the most number of votes are elected. This is often not proportional to the results.

text: From 1951 to 1971, instead of 12 senators elected every three years, the electorate voted for eight senators every two years in the same format. From 1941 to 1949, all elections to the senate were by block voting: the voters may write a name for every seat contested, or they can write the name of the party, which would then give all of the voters' votes to that party's ticket. Compounded with the Nacionalista Party's dominance, this caused a sweep of 24 seats for them in 1941.[2] From 1916 to 1934, voting was via senatorial districts; voters vote for one candidate every three years, except for the first election in 1916 where they'd vote for two candidates; the second-placed candidate would only serve for three years.

text: House of Representatives[edit]

text: Each voter has two votes in the House of Representatives.

text: A voter may elect a representative from the congressional district of residence. The candidate with the highest number of votes in a district wins that district's seat.

text: A voter may also elect a party-list organization. The voter votes for the party, not for the candidate, and the voter is restricted to one vote. All votes are tallied in an at-large basis, and parties with at least 2% of the vote wins at least one seat in the House. A further two more seats will be granted if there are still spare seats (the party-list representatives comprise 20% of the House), and if there are still unfilled seats, the parties with less than 2% of the vote will get one seat each in descending order until all seats are filled. A party-list organization is limited to representing marginalized sectors of society such as youth, laborers, women, and the like.

text: Previously, the calculation for the winners in the party-list election was different: the winning parties should have 2% of the national vote and are awarded one seat; any additional 2% is given an additional seat until the maximum of three seats per party is filled up. Since only a few parties surpassed the 2% election threshold, the number of party-list representatives was always less than 20% of the House's membership.

text: The party-list system was first used in 1998; from 1987 to 1995, the president with the concurrence of the Commission on Appointments, appointed the sectoral representatives. Sectoral representatives were first elected during 1978.

text: Local positions[edit]

text: Synchronized with the national elections are the local elections. The voter may vote for any of the following:

text:
Provincial-level:

One governor
One vice governor
One to seven Sangguniang Panlalawigan members (provincial board)

City- or municipal-level:

One mayor
One vice mayor
Four to twelve Sangguniang Panlungsod/Sangguniang Bayan members (city or municipal council, respectively)

text: If the city the voter is residing in a highly urbanized city or independent component city, the voter can not vote for any of the provincial-level positions.

text: The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial board), Sangguniang Panlungsod (city council) and Sangguniang Bayan (municipal council)'s manner of election is identical with that of the Senate. In some cities and provinces, they are split into districts (not necessarily the same as the congressional district) in which separate board members/council members are elected.

text: Barangay elections are held every three years, although usually not in the same time as elections for other positions. Terms of incumbent barangay officials are often extended when Congress suspend the barangay elections as a cost-saving measure. The barangay-level positions are:

text:
One punong barangay (barangay captain)
Seven barangay kagawads (councilors)
One Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairperson (youth council chairperson)
Seven SK kagawads (councilors)

text: The manner of election of the Sangguniang Kabataan in the barangay is identical to the one used in the Senate. Each barangay is entitled to one SK. The barangay SK chairpersons in a city or municipality elect amongst themselves a president that will sit as an ex officio member of the city or municipal council. The city (if applicable) and municipal SK presidents then elect amongst themselves a president that will sit in the provincial board as an ex officio member. Finally, provincial and city (which are not under the jurisdiction of a province) chairpersons elect amongst themselves the SK national federation president that will sit as an ex officio member of the National Youth Commission.

text: The manner of representation of the different barangay chairmen in the municipal, city and provincial legislatures as ex officio members is identical with the way how the SK chairpersons are represented; the provincial and city (which are not under the jurisdiction of a province) chairpersons elect amongst themselves the president of the National League of the Barangays (Liga ng mga Barangay).

text: Other elections[edit]

text: Referendums and plebiscites[edit]

text: Referendums and plebiscites are conducted in order to pass certain laws. Any amendments or revision to the constitution, merging, creation and abolition of local government units and autonomous regions and the like are validated via plebiscites. In order for a referendum and plebiscite to pass, the votes in favor must be greater in number than those which are opposed; there is no requirement for how high the voter turnout should be in such referendums or plebiscites.

text: The terms "referendum" and "plebiscite" mean different things in the context of Philippine political discourse:

text:
Referendum is the power of the electorate to approve or reject a legislation through an election called for the purpose.
Plebiscite is the electoral process by which an initiative on the Constitution is approved or rejected by the people.

It is also the term used in determining the creation of a barangay (village), municipalities, cities, provinces and autonomous regions.

text: In order to initiate a referendum, a total of 10% of all registered voters, plus 3% from every affected legislative district, must sign a petition. If the affected locality only has one legislative district, the 3% requirement falls to every municipality for a province-wide referendum, and for every barangay for citywide referendum. For barangay-level referendums, the requirement is 10% of all registered voters. For a constitutional plebiscite, 12% of all registered voters is needed, with 3% for all legislative districts, and that it could be exercised five years after its ratification on February 2, 1987, and once every five years after each plebiscite. A referendum is passed if it is approved by a majority of the votes cast; a defeat means the law sought to be rejected or amended remains to be in full effect.

text: There had been two "waves" of national referendums in the Philippines: the first was during the Commonwealth period, and the latter was during the martial law period. Locally, the most common plebiscites are on creating new provinces and the upgrading of a municipality into a city.

text: The last provincial-level plebiscite was on 2013 for the creation of a new province of Davao Occidental that was passed; the last national plebiscite was in 1987 for the approval of the constitution endorsed by the 1986 Constitutional Commission.

text: Recall[edit]

text: Elected local government officials may be recalled. A recall election may be called if there is a petition of at least 25% of the registered voters in that LGU. An amendment to the law where a majority of all members of a preparatory recall assembly, composed of all elected local officials within a local government unit (LGU), endorse a recall, was repealed. The recalled official is not allowed to resign when facing a recall election, but may participate in it; the candidate with the highest number of votes wins the recall election.

text: The last recall election above the barangay level was the 2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election.

text: Initiatives[edit]

text: Initiatives (locally known as "people's initiative") to amend or revise the constitution, or propose new laws are allowed if there is a petition of at least 12% of all registered voters in the country, with at least 3% in every legislative district. A plebiscite will be called it meets such requirements. A people's initiative has never made it past the stage verification of signatures.

text: Special election[edit]

text: The term "special election" in the Philippines may mean either of the following:

text:
An election that was supposedly held with the general election but was delayed;
An election to elect a new official after the predecessor left office (known as "by-elections" elsewhere)

text: Members of the House of Representatives can be elected under the second type of special election whenever the predecessor leaves office, except when the next regularly scheduled election is less than a year away. A special election for president and vice president can only be called if both offices are vacant at the same time, and is outside the 18 months prior to the next regularly scheduled presidential election.

text: The last special election to elect a vacancy to the House of Representatives was 2012 for Negros Occidental's 5th legislative district. The last special election for the presidency was on 1986.

text: Primary elections[edit]

text: Primary elections do not exist in the Philippines. The leaders of the various political parties select the candidates themselves, and party membership is liquid. In some cases, if a politician is not chosen to be a candidate, he can join another party (such as Ferdinand Marcos, a Liberal, jumped ship to the Nacionalistas in 1965 when the Liberals picked incumbent Diosdado Macapagal as their presidential candidate), or create their own party (such as Fidel Ramos, when he created the Lakas ng Tao (now Lakas Kampi CMD) after the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino chose Ramon Mitra as their presidential candidate in 1992).

text: Constitutional Conventions[edit]

text: Calling a Constitutional Convention is one of the ways to amend or revise the constitution of the Philippines. While voting is expected to be via the existing legislative districts, Congress decides on how many delegates would be elected, thus how many delegates would be distributed per district. The election is nonpartisan.

text: During the 1970 Constitutional Convention election, each district had 2 to 16 delegates, elected via plurality-at-large voting. During the 1934 Constitutional Convention election, each district had 2 to 14 delegates, also elected via plurality-at-large-voting.

text: The body that proposed the current constitution, the Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986, was appointed by the President, Corazon Aquino. The Malolos Congress was partly elected.

text: History[edit]

text: Beginning during the Spanish Colonial Period there were a few attempts nationally of electing local officials. Once the Spanish colonial government was replaced by the American colonial Insular Government. following the Spanish–American War, and the First Philippine Republic defeated in the Philippine–American War, there were multiple elections held throughout peaceful areas of the country for provincial and local officials.

text: During the First Philippine Republic an attempt was made to elect a national congress but the Republic did not control the Philippines and so no nationwide election could be held. The first fully national election for a fully elected legislative body was in 1907 for the Philippine Assembly, the elected half of the bicameral Philippine Legislature during the American Colonial Period.

text: List of elections[edit]

text: Only elections national in scope are included.

text:
Year
General
President
Upper house
Lower house
Local
Barangay
Other
Referendum

1895

Municipal

1898

1898 Congress

1899

Local

1902

Local

1904

Local

1905

Local

1907

Philippine Assembly

1909

Philippine Assembly
Local

1912

Philippine Assembly
Local

1916
Legislative

Senate
House of Representatives
Local

1919
Legislative

Senate
House of Representatives
Local

1922
Legislative

Senate
House of Representatives
Local

1925
Legislative

Senate
House of Representatives
Local

1928
Legislative

Senate
House of Representatives
Local

1931
Legislative

Senate
House of Representatives
Local

1934
Legislative

Senate
House of Representatives
Local

Constitutional convention

1935
General
President & vice president
National Assembly

Constitutional

1937

Local

Women's suffrage

1938

National Assembly

1940

Constitutional

1941
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives
Local

1943

National Assembly
Local

1946
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives

1947

Senate

Local

Parity rights

1949
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives

1951

Senate

Local

1953
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives

1955

Senate

Local

1957
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives

1959

Senate

Local

1961
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives

1963

Senate

Local

1965
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives

1967

Senate

Local

1969
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives

1970

Constitutional convention

1971

Senate

Local

1973

Constitutional (January)
Martial law (July)

1975

Executive and legislative powers

1976

Constitutional

1977

Constitutional

1978

Parliament

1980

Local

1981

President

Constitutional (April)
Barangay institutionalization (June)

1982

Barangay

1984

Parliament

Constitutional

1986

President & vice president

1987
Legislative

Senate
House of Representatives

Constitutional

1988

Local

1989

Barangay

1992
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives
Local
SK

1994

Barangay

1995
General

Senate
House of Representatives
Local

1996

SK

1997

Barangay

1998
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives
Local

2001
General

Senate
House of Representatives
Local

2002

Barangay & SK

2004
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives
Local

2007
General

Senate
House of Representatives
Local
Barangay & SK

2010
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives
Local
Barangay & SK

2013
General

Senate
House of Representatives
Local
Barangay

2016
General
President & vice president
Senate
House of Representatives
Local

2018

Barangay & SK

text: Latest elections[edit]

text: The latest presidential and vice presidential elections were held in May 2016. The latest national and local elections are the May 2016 polls, followed in October by barangay elections.

text: 2016 presidential election[edit]

text:
e • d Summary of the May 9, 2016 Philippine presidential election results

Candidate
Party
Votes
%

Rodrigo Duterte
Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan
(Philippine Democratic Party–People's Power)
16,601,997
39.01%

Mar Roxas
Liberal Party
9,978,175
23.45%

Grace Poe
Independent
9,100,991
21.39%

Jejomar Binay
United Nationalist Alliance
5,416,140
12.73%

Miriam Defensor Santiago
People's Reform Party
1,455,532
3.42%

Total
42,552,835
100%

Valid votes
42,552,835
94.61%

Roy Señeres[p 1]
Partido ng Manggagawa at Magsasaka (Workers' and Peasants' Party)
25,779
0.06%

Total invalid votes
2,426,316
5.39%

Votes cast
44,979,151
81.5%

Registered voters
55,739,911
100%

text: Jump up ^ Withdrew on February 5, 2016, and died three days later. All of his votes are to be considered as spoiled votes.

text: 2016 vice presidential election[edit]

text:
e • d Summary of the May 9, 2016 Philippine vice presidential election results

Candidate
Party
Votes
%

Leni Robredo
Liberal Party
14,418,817
35.11%

Bongbong Marcos
Independent [v 1]
14,155,344
34.47%

Alan Peter Cayetano
Independent [v 2]
5,903,379
14.38%

Francis Escudero
Independent
4,931,962
12.01%

Antonio Trillanes
Independent [v 3]
868,501
2.11%

Gregorio Honasan
United Nationalist Alliance
788,881
1.92%

Total
41,066,884
100%

Valid votes
41,066,884
91.30%

Invalid votes
3,912,267
8.70%

Votes cast
44,979,151
81.5%

Registered voters
55,739,911
100%

text:
Jump up ^ Member of Nacionalista Party, which does not field an official candidate; Miriam Defensor Santiago's (PRP) guest candidate for vice president
Jump up ^ Member of Nacionalista Party, which does not field an official candidate; Rodrigo Duterte's (PDP-Laban) guest candidate for vice president
Jump up ^ Member of Nacionalista Party, which does not field an official candidate; supported by Magdalo and endorsed Grace Poe for President

text: 2016 legislative election[edit]

text: 2016 Senate election[edit]

text:
e • d Summary of the May 9, 2016 Philippine Senate election results per party

Party
Popular vote
Breakdown
Seats

Total
%
Swing
Entered
Up
Not up
Gains
Holds
Losses
Won
Current 16th
17th
+/−

Start
%

Liberal (Liberal Party)
100,512,795
31.30%
 19.98%
8
3
1
3
2
1
5
4
6
25.0%
 2

NPC (Nationalist People's Coalition)
32,154,139
10.07%
 0.08%
2
1
1
1
1
0
2
2
3
12.5%
 1

UNA (United Nationalist Alliance)
24,660,722
7.64%
 19.33%
6
2
3
1
0
2
1
5
4
16.0%
 1

Akbayan (Citizens' Action Party)
15,915,213
4.97%
 1.29%
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
4.2%
 1

Lakas (People Power-Christian Muslim Democrats)
13,056,845
4.08%
 4.08%
2
2
0
0
0
2
0
2
0
0.0%
 2

PMP (Force of the Philippine Masses)
11,932,700
3.73%
 3.73%
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

Aksyon (Democratic Action)
8,433,168
2.62%
 2.62%
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

Makabayan (Patriotic Coalition of the People)
6,484,985
2.02%
 0.58%
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

Nacionalista (Nationalist Party)
2,775,191
0.85%
 14.45%
1
2
3
0
0
2
0
5
3
4.2%
 2

PMM (Workers' and Farmers' Party)
2,470,660
0.76%
 0.76%
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

KBL (New Society Movement)
1,971,327
0.61%
 0.61%
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

LDP (Struggle of Democratic Filipinos)
Not participating
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
4.2%

PDP-Laban (Philippine Democratic Party – People's Power)
Not participating
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
4.2%

PRP (People's Reform Party)
Not participating
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0.0%
 1

Independent
100,939,528
31.36%
 15.12%
22
1
2
3
0
1
3
3
5
29.2%
 2

Total
319,308,507
N/A

50
12
12
9
3
9
12
24
24
100%

Turnout
44,979,151
80.69%
 4.92%

Registered voters
55,739,911
100%

text: 2016 House of Representatives elections[edit]

text:
e • d Summary of the May 9, 2016 Philippine House of Representatives election results for representatives from congressional districts

Party/coalition
Popular vote
Breakdown
Seats

Total
%
Entered
Up
Gains
Holds
Losses
Wins
Elected
%
+/−

Liberal (Liberal Party)
15 552 401
41.72%
164
111
15
96
15
4
115
38.7%
 4

NPC (Nationalist People's Coalition)
6 350 310
17.04%
77
42
8
33
9
0
42
14.1%
 4

NUP (National Unity Party)
3 604 266
9.67%
39
26
1
22
4
0
23
7.7%
 3

Nacionalista (Nationalist Party)
3 512 975
9.42%
46
27
3
21
6
0
24
8.1%
 2

UNA (United Nationalist Alliance)
2 468 335
6.62%
47
8
4
7
1
0
11
3.7%
 1

PDP-Laban (Philippine Democratic Party–People's Power)
706 407
1.90%
26
0
3
0
0
0
3
1.0%
 3

Lakas (People Power–Christian Muslim Democrats)
573 843
1.54%
5
7
0
4
3
0
4
1.3%
 1

Aksyon (Democratic Action)
514 612
1.38%
8
1
1
0
1
0
1
0.3%

KBL (New Society Movement)
198 754
0.53%
11
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

Asenso Manileño (Progress for Manilans)
184 602
0.50%
4
0
2
0
0
0
2
0.7%
 2

Kusog Baryohanon (Force of the Villagers)
172 601
0.46%
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0.3%
 1

PTM (Voice of the Masses Party)
145 417
0.39%
2
1
0
1
0
0
1
0.3%

PCM (People's Champ Movement)
142 307
0.38%
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
0.3%
 1

Bukidnon Paglaum (Hope for Bukidnon)
129 678
0.35%
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
0.3%

Lingap Lugud (Caring Love)
127 762
0.34%
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
0.3%
 1

Padayon Pilipino (Onward Filipinos)
127 759
0.34%
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

1-Cebu (One Cebu)
114 732
0.31%
3
1
0
0
1
0
0
0.0%

LDP (Struggle of Democratic Filipinos)
111 086
0.30%
2
2
0
2
0
0
2
0.7%

ASJ (Forward San Joseans)
83 945
0.23%
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0.3%
 1

PMP (Force of the Filipino Masses)
78 020
0.21%
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

KABAKA (Partner of the Nation for Progress)
72 130
0.19%
2
1
0
1
0
0
1
0.3%

Hugpong (Party of the People of the City)
53 186
0.14%
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

SZP (Forward Zambales Party)
52 415
0.14%
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

CDP (Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines)
13 662
0.04%
1
1
0
0
1
0
0
0.0%

PMM (Workers' and Peasants' Party)
7 239
0.02%
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

PGRP (Philippine Green Republican Party)
4 426
0.01%
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0%

Independent
2 172 562
5.83%
178
3
3
1
2
0
4
1.3%
 1

Vacancy
—
—
—
3
0
0
3
—
0
0.0%
 3

Total
37 275 432
100%
634
234
45
189
45
4
238
80.1%
 4

Valid votes
37 275 432
83.97%

Invalid votes
7 077 692
15.94%

Turnout
44 392 375
81.66%

Registered voters (without overseas voters)
54 363 844
100%

text:
e • d Summary of the May 9, 2016 Philippine House of Representatives election results for party-list representatives

Party
Popular vote
Seats

Total
%
Swing
Up
Won
+/−

Ako Bicol
1,664,975
5.14%
 2.38%
2
3
 1

GABRIELA
1,367,795
4.22%
 1.64%
2
2

1-PACMAN
1,310,197
4.05%
 4.05%
0
2
 2

ACT Teachers
1,180,752
3.65%
 2.00%
1
2
 1

Senior Citizens
988,876
3.05%
 0.60%
2
2

Kabayan
840,393
2.60%
 2.60%
0
2
 2

AGRI
833,821
2.58%
 1.25%
1
2
 1

PBA
780,309
2.41%
 1.64%
0
2
 2

Buhay
760,912
2.35%
 2.25%
3
2
 1

Abono
732,060
2.26%
 0.52%
2
2

AMIN
706,689
2.18%
 0.80%
1
2
 1

Coop-NATCCO
671,699
2.07%
 0.25%
2
2

Akbayan
608,449
1.88%
 1.12%
2
1
 1

Bayan Muna
606,566
1.87%
 1.58%
2
1
 1

AGAP
593,748
1.83%
 0.31%
2
1
 1

An Waray
590,895
1.82%
 0.13%
2
1
 1

CIBAC
555,760
1.72%
 0.40%
2
1
 1

AAMBIS-Owa
495,483
1.53%
 0.40%
1
1

Kalinga
494,725
1.53%
 0.18%
1
1

A TEACHER
475,488
1.47%
 2.31%
2
1
 1

YACAP
471,173
1.46%
 0.13%
1
1

DIWA
467,794
1.44%
 0.21%
1
1

TUCP
467,275
1.44%
 0.11%
1
1

Abang Lingkod
466,701
1.44%
 0.50%
1
1

LPGMA
466,103
1.44%
 0.10%
1
1

Alona
434,856
1.34%
 1.34%
0
1
 1

1-SAGIP
397,064
1.23%
 0.18%
1
1

Butil
395,011
1.22%
 0.37%
1
1

ACTS-OFW
374,601
1.16%
 1.16%
0
1
 1

Anakpawis
367,376
1.13%
 0.03%
1
1

Ang Kabuhayan
348,533
1.08%
 1.08%
0
1
 1

ANGKLA
337,245
1.04%
 0.26%
1
1

Mata
331,285
1.02%
 0.14%
0
1
 1

1-CARE
329,627
1.02%
 2.37%
2
1
 1

ANAC-IP
318,257
0.98%
 0.11%
1
1

ABS
301,457
0.93%
 0.37%
1
1

Kabataan
300,420
0.93%
 0.31%
1
1

BH
299,381
0.92%
 0.24%
0
1
 1

AASENSO
294,281
0.91%
 0.67%
0
1
 1

SBP
280,465
0.87%
 0.87%
0
1
 1

Magdalo
279,356
0.86%
 1.19%
2
1
 1

1-ang Edukasyon
278,393
0.86%
 0.86%
0
1
 1

Manila Teachers
268,613
0.83%
 0.83%
0
1
 1

Kusug Tausug
247,487
0.76%
 0.76%
0
1
 1

Aangat Tayo
243,266
0.75%
 0.00%
0
1
 1

Agbiag!
240,723
0.74%
 0.13%
1
1

Ating Guro
237,566
0.73%
 0.04%
0
0

ADDA
226,751
0.70%
 0.70%
0
0

A.I.
223,880
0.69%
 0.69%
0
0

All-Fish
220,599
0.68%
 0.68%
0
0

Append
219,218
0.68%
 0.18%
1
0
 1

Ang Nars
218,593
0.68%
 0.21%
1
0
 1

ABAKADA
216,405
0.67%
 0.22%
1
0
 1

CONSLA
213,814
0.66%
 0.66%
0
0

Tingog Sinirangan
210,552
0.65%
 0.65%
0
0

ABAMIN
209,276
0.65%
 1.04%
1
0
 1

OFW Family
203,767
0.63%
 2.09%
2
0
 2

Anakalusugan
191,362
0.59%
 0.59%
0
0

Alay Buhay
186,712
0.58%
 0.57%
1
0
 1

Abante Retirees
166,138
0.51%
 0.07%
0
0

AAB
162,547
0.50%
 0.50%
0
0

AVE
157,792
0.49%
 0.49%
1
0
 1

RAM
153,743
0.47%
 0.47%
0
0

KGB
148,869
0.46%
 0.46%
0
0

AGHAM
140,661
0.43%
 0.04%
0
0

AWAT Mindanao
138,040
0.43%
 0.28%
0
0

Tama
136,555
0.42%
 0.42%
0
0

Asean, Inc.
125,069
0.39%
 0.39%
0
0

Amepa Ofw
121,086
0.37%
 0.37%
0
0

ATING Koop
120,361
0.37%
 0.60%
1
0
 1

Ang Kasangga
120,042
0.37%
 0.36%
0
0

UMALAB KA
118,149
0.36%
 0.20%
0
0

Disabled/PWD
118,043
0.36%
 0.36%
0
0

Global
117,552
0.36%
 0.36%
0
0

ALE
112,052
0.35%
 0.21%
0
0

Cancer
109,965
0.34%
 0.34%
0
0

ACT-CIS
109,300
0.34%
 1.03%
1
0
 1

AMA
102,583
0.32%
 0.57%
1
0
 1

Marino
102,430
0.32%
 0.32%
0
0

1-PABAHAY
100,746
0.31%
 0.11%
0
0

Metro
94,515
0.29%
 0.29%
0
0

PISTON
89,384
0.28%
 0.36%
0
0

Sanlakas
87,351
0.27%
 0.04%
0
0

TGP
87,009
0.27%
 0.27%
0
0

KAP/KAKASA-KA
79,178
0.24%
 0.24%
0
0

Migrante
76,523
0.24%
 0.05%
0
0

Amor-seaman
68,226
0.21%
 0.21%
0
0

1-AALALAY
65,459
0.20%
 0.39%
0
0

Sinag
61,393
0.19%
 0.19%
0
0

Akin
56,809
0.18%
 0.18%
0
0

1-AHAPO
54,550
0.17%
 0.17%
0
0

Ang Prolife
53,078
0.16%
 0.31%
0
0

Samako
52,251
0.16%
 0.16%
0
0

Tricap
50,401
0.16%
 0.16%
0
0

Unido
49,742
0.15%
 0.15%
0
0

Clase
49,212
0.15%
 0.15%
0
0

Tinderong Pinoy
46,942
0.14%
 0.14%
0
0

Pbb
46,853
0.14%
 0.14%
0
0

Kamais Pilipinas
46,521
0.14%
 0.14%
0
0

1-GB
46,182
0.14%
 0.14%
0
0

KMM
42,935
0.13%
 0.13%
0
0

PM
42,742
0.13%
 0.13%
0
0

KM Ngayon Na
39,777
0.12%
 0.12%
0
0

FICTAP
36,619
0.11%
 0.11%
0
0

ACP
35,270
0.11%
 0.11%
0
0

Banat
31,185
0.10%
 0.10%
0
0

A Tambay
30,147
0.09%
 0.09%
0
0

Awake
28,727
0.09%
 0.09%
0
0

Nactodap
24,407
0.08%
 0.08%
0
0

Anupa
18,793
0.06%
 0.06%
0
0

Melchora
17,040
0.05%
 0.05%
0
0

1-ABILIDAD
16,805
0.05%
 0.02%
0
0

MTM PHILS
9,200
0.03%
 0.12%
0
0

CWS
9,121
0.03%
 0.03%
0
0

Dumper PTDA
6,941
0.02%
 0.02%
0
0

Total
32,377,841
100.00%
N/A
58
59
 1

Valid votes
32,377,841
71.98%
 3.15%

Invalid votes
12,601,310
28.02%
 3.15%

Total turnout
44,980,362*
80.70%
 4.93%

Registered voters
55,739,911
100.00%
 5.21%

text: *1,211 votes are unaccounted for.

text: 2016 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao general election[edit]

text: 2016 gubernatorial elections[edit]

text: 2016 local elections[edit]

text: 2018 barangay and SK elections[edit]

text: Future elections[edit]

text:
Philippine presidential election, 2022
Philippine Senate election, 2019
Philippine House of Representatives elections, 2019
Philippine local election, 2019
Philippine barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, 2018


document_title: Algal bloom

question_text: what is most likely cause of algal blooms

root

text: Algal bloom

text: Blooming[edit]

text: Since 'algae' is a broad term including organisms of widely varying sizes, growth rates and nutrient requirements, there is no officially recognized threshold level as to what is defined as a bloom. For some species, algae can be considered to be blooming at concentrations reaching millions of cells per milliliter, while others form blooms of tens of thousands of cells per liter. The photosynthetic pigments in the algal cells determine the color of the algal bloom, and are thus often a greenish color, but they can also be a wide variety of other colors such as yellow, brown or red, depending on the species of algae and the type of pigments contained therein.

tag: p

text: Bright green blooms in freshwater systems are frequently a result of cyanobacteria (colloquially known as "blue-green algae" as a result of their confusing taxonomical history) such as Microcystis. Blooms may also consist of macroalgal (non-phytoplanktonic) species. These blooms are recognizable by large blades of algae that may wash up onto the shoreline.

text: Of particular note are harmful algal blooms (HABs), which are algal bloom events involving toxic or otherwise harmful phytoplankton such as dinoflagellates of the genus Alexandrium and Karenia, or diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia. Such blooms often take on a red or brown hue and are known colloquially as red tides.

text: Freshwater algal blooms[edit]

text: Freshwater algal blooms are the result of an excess of nutrients, particularly some phosphates.[3][4] The excess of nutrients may originate from fertilizers that are applied to land for agricultural or recreational purposes. They may also originate from household cleaning products containing phosphorus.[5] These nutrients can then enter watersheds through water runoff.[6] Excess carbon and nitrogen have also been suspected as causes. Presence of residual sodium carbonate acts as catalyst for the algae to bloom by providing dissolved carbon dioxide for enhanced photosynthesis in the presence of nutrients.

text: When phosphates are introduced into water systems, higher concentrations cause increased growth of algae and plants. Algae tend to grow very quickly under high nutrient availability, but each alga is short-lived, and the result is a high concentration of dead organic matter which starts to decay. The decay process consumes dissolved oxygen in the water, resulting in hypoxic conditions. Without sufficient dissolved oxygen in the water, animals and plants may die off in large numbers. Use of an Olszewski tube can help combat these problems with hypolimnetic withdrawal.

text: Blooms may be observed in freshwater aquariums when fish are overfed and excess nutrients are not absorbed by plants. These are generally harmful for fish, and the situation can be corrected by changing the water in the tank and then reducing the amount of food given.

text: Harmful algal blooms[edit]

text: A harmful algal bloom (HAB) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms via production of natural toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are often associated with large-scale marine mortality events and have been associated with various types of shellfish poisonings.[7]

text: In studies at the population level bloom coverage has been significantly related to the risk of non-alcoholic liver disease death.[8]

text: Background[edit]

text: In the marine environment, single-celled, microscopic, plant-like organisms naturally occur in the well-lit surface layer of any body of water. These organisms, referred to as phytoplankton or microalgae, form the base of the food web upon which nearly all other marine organisms depend. Of the 5000+ species of marine phytoplankton that exist worldwide, about 2% are known to be harmful or toxic.[9] Blooms of harmful algae can have large and varied impacts on marine ecosystems, depending on the species involved, the environment where they are found, and the mechanism by which they exert negative effects.

text: Harmful algal blooms have been observed to cause adverse effects to a wide variety of aquatic organisms, most notably marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds and finfish. The impacts of HAB toxins on these groups can include harmful changes to their developmental, immunological, neurological, or reproductive capacities. The most conspicuous effects of HABs on marine wildlife are large-scale mortality events associated with toxin-producing blooms. For example, a mass mortality event of 107 bottlenose dolphins occurred along the Florida panhandle in the spring of 2004 due to ingestion of contaminated menhaden with high levels of brevetoxin.[10] Manatee mortalities have also been attributed to brevetoxin but unlike dolphins, the main toxin vector was endemic seagrass species (Thalassia testudinum) in which high concentrations of brevetoxins were detected and subsequently found as a main component of the stomach contents of manatees.[10]

text: Additional marine mammal species, like the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale, have been exposed to neurotoxins by preying on highly contaminated zooplankton.[11] With the summertime habitat of this species overlapping with seasonal blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense, and subsequent copepod grazing, foraging right whales will ingest large concentrations of these contaminated copepods. Ingestion of such contaminated prey can affect respiratory capabilities, feeding behavior, and ultimately the reproductive condition of the population.[11]

text: Immune system responses have been affected by brevetoxin exposure in another critically endangered species, the Loggerhead sea turtle. Brevetoxin exposure, via inhalation of aerosolized toxins and ingestion of contaminated prey, can have clinical signs of increased lethargy and muscle weakness in loggerhead sea turtles causing these animals to wash ashore in a decreased metabolic state with increases of immune system responses upon blood analysis.[12] Examples of common harmful effects of HABs include:

text:
the production of neurotoxins which cause mass mortalities in fish, seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals
human illness or death via consumption of seafood contaminated by toxic algae[13]
mechanical damage to other organisms, such as disruption of epithelial gill tissues in fish, resulting in asphyxiation
oxygen depletion of the water column (hypoxia or anoxia) from cellular respiration and bacterial degradation

tag: ol

text: Due to their negative economic and health impacts, HABs are often carefully monitored.[14][15]

text: HABs occur in many regions of the world, and in the United States are recurring phenomena in multiple geographical regions. The Gulf of Maine frequently experiences blooms of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense, an organism that produces saxitoxin, the neurotoxin responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning. The well-known "Florida red tide" that occurs in the Gulf of Mexico is a HAB caused by Karenia brevis, another dinoflagellate which produces brevetoxin, the neurotoxin responsible for neurotoxic shellfish poisoning. California coastal waters also experience seasonal blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia, a diatom known to produce domoic acid, the neurotoxin responsible for amnesic shellfish poisoning. Off the west coast of South Africa, HABs caused by Alexandrium catanella occur every spring. These blooms of organisms cause severe disruptions in fisheries of these waters as the toxins in the phytoplankton cause filter-feeding shellfish in affected waters to become poisonous for human consumption.[16]

text: If the HAB event results in a high enough concentration of algae the water may become discoloured or murky, varying in colour from purple to almost pink, normally being red or green. Not all algal blooms are dense enough to cause water discolouration.

text: Red tides[edit]

text: Red tide is a term often used synonymously with HABs in marine coastal areas, however the term is misleading since algal blooms can be a wide variety of colors and growth of algae is unrelated to the tides. The term 'algal bloom' or 'harmful algal bloom' has since replaced 'red tide' as the appropriate description of this phenomenon.

text: Causes of HABs[edit]

text: It is unclear what causes HABs; their occurrence in some locations appears to be entirely natural,[17] while in others they appear to be a result of human activities.[18] Furthermore, there are many different species of algae that can form HABs, each with different environmental requirements for optimal growth. The frequency and severity of HABs in some parts of the world have been linked to increased nutrient loading from human activities. In other areas, HABs are a predictable seasonal occurrence resulting from coastal upwelling, a natural result of the movement of certain ocean currents.[19] The growth of marine phytoplankton (both non-toxic and toxic) is generally limited by the availability of nitrates and phosphates, which can be abundant in coastal upwelling zones as well as in agricultural run-off. The type of nitrates and phosphates available in the system are also a factor, since phytoplankton can grow at different rates depending on the relative abundance of these substances (e.g. ammonia, urea, nitrate ion). A variety of other nutrient sources can also play an important role in affecting algal bloom formation, including iron, silica or carbon. Coastal water pollution produced by humans (including iron fertilization) and systematic increase in sea water temperature have also been suggested as possible contributing factors in HABs.[20] Other factors such as iron-rich dust influx from large desert areas such as the Sahara are thought to play a role in causing HABs.[21] Some algal blooms on the Pacific coast have also been linked to natural occurrences of large-scale climatic oscillations such as El Niño events. HABs are also linked to heavy rainfall.[22] While HABs in the Gulf of Mexico have been occurring since the time of early explorers such as Cabeza de Vaca,[23] it is unclear what initiates these blooms and how large a role anthropogenic and natural factors play in their development. It is also unclear whether the apparent increase in frequency and severity of HABs in various parts of the world is in fact a real increase or is due to increased observation effort and advances in species identification technology.[24][25] However recent research found that the warming of summer surface temperatures of lakes, which rose by 0.34 °C decade per decade between 1985 and 2009 due to global warming, also will likely increase algal blooming by 20% over the next century.[26]

text: Researching solutions[edit]

text: The decline of filter-feeding shellfish populations, such as oysters, likely contribute to HAB occurrence.[27] As such, numerous research projects are assessing the potential of restored shellfish populations to reduce HAB occurrence.[28][29][30]

text: Since many algal blooms are caused by a major influx of nutrient-rich runoff into a water body, programs to treat wastewater, reduce the overuse of fertilizers in agriculture and reducing the bulk flow of runoff can be effective for reducing severe algal blooms at river mouths, estuaries, and the ocean directly in front of the river's mouth.

text: Notable occurrences[edit]

text:
Lingulodinium polyedrum produces brilliant displays of bioluminescence in warm coastal waters. Seen in Southern California regularly since at least 1901.[31]
In 1972, a red tide was caused in New England by a toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium (Gonyaulax) tamarense.[32]
The largest algal bloom on record was the 1991 Darling River cyanobacterial bloom, largely of Anabaena circinalis, between October and December 1991 over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) of the Barwon and Darling Rivers.[33]
In 2005, the Canadian HAB was discovered to have come further south than it has in years prior by a ship called The Oceanus, closing shellfish beds in Maine and Massachusetts and alerting authorities as far south as Montauk (Long Island, NY) to check their beds.[34] Experts who discovered the reproductive cysts in the seabed warn of a possible spread to Long Island in the future, halting the area's fishing and shellfish industry and threatening the tourist trade, which constitutes a significant portion of the island's economy.
In 2008 large blooms of the algae Cochlodinium polykrikoid were found along the Chesapeake Bay and nearby tributaries such as the James River, causing millions of dollars in damage and numerous beach closures.[35]
In 2009, Brittany, France experienced recurring algal blooms caused by the high amount of fertilizer discharging in the sea due to intensive pig farming, causing lethal gas emissions that have led to one case of human unconsciousness and three animal deaths.[36]
In 2010, dissolved iron in the ash from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano triggered a plankton bloom in the North Atlantic.[37]
In 2013, an algal bloom was caused in Qingdao, China, by sea lettuce.[38]
In 2014, Myrionecta rubra (previously known as Mesodinium rubrum), a ciliate protist that ingests cryptomonad algae, caused a bloom in southeastern coast of Brazil.[39]
In 2014, blue green algae caused a bloom in the western basin of Lake Erie, poisoning the Toledo, Ohio water system connected to 500,000 people.[40]
In 2016, a harmful algal bloom in Florida closed several beaches (ex. Palm Beach, Florida). The blooms consisted of several harmful genera of algae.

tag: ul


document_title: History of Nintendo

question_text: who designed the first toy released by nintendo

question_tokens: who designed the first toy released by nintendo

text: History of Nintendo

text: Origin[edit]

text: Nintendo started out as a small Japanese company, founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi on September 23, 1889,[2] as Nintendo Koppai. Based in Kyoto, Japan, the business produced and marketed Hanafuda cards. The name "Nintendo" is commonly assumed to mean "leave luck to heaven", but there are no historical records to validate this assumption.[3] The cards, which were all handmade, soon began to gain in popularity, and Yamauchi had to hire assistants to mass-produce cards to keep up with the demand.

text: Fusajiro Yamauchi did not have a son to take over the family business. Following common Japanese tradition, he adopted his son-in-law, Sekiryo Yamauchi, (after the wife). In 1929, Yamauchi retired from the company and allowed Sekiryo Yamauchi to take over the company as president. In 1933, Sekiryo Yamauchi established a joint venture with another company and renamed the company Yamauchi Nintendo & Co.

text: In 1947, Sekiryo established a distribution company, Marufuku Co., Ltd.,[4] to distribute the Hanafuda cards, as well as several other brands of cards that had been introduced by Nintendo. Sekiryo Yamauchi also had only daughters, so again his son-in-law (Shikanojo Inaba, renamed Shikanojo Yamauchi) was adopted into the family. Shikanojo never became president because he abandoned his family. Subsequently, his son Hiroshi was brought up by his grandparents. He later took over the company instead of his father.

text: 1889–1965: As a card company[edit]

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tag: table

text: In 1949, Hiroshi Yamauchi was attending Waseda University in Tokyo, however, after his grandfather died he left to take office as the president of Nintendo.[5] In 1951, he renamed "Marufuku Co. Ltd." to "Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd."[6][7] In 1953, Nintendo became the first company in Japan to produce playing cards from plastic.[8]

text: In 1956, Yamauchi visited the U.S., to engage in talks with the United States Playing Card Company, the dominant playing card manufacturer in the United States. He was shocked to find that the world's biggest company in his business was relegated to using a small office. This was a turning point for Yamauchi, who then realized the limitations of the playing card business.

text: In 1959, Nintendo struck a deal with Disney to allow the use Disney's characters on Nintendo's playing cards.[6] Previously, Western playing cards were regarded as something similar to hanafuda and mahjong: a device for gambling. By tying playing cards to Disney and selling books explaining the different games one could play with the cards, Nintendo could sell the product to Japanese households. The tie-in was a success and the company sold at least 600,000 card packs in a single year. Due to this success, in 1962, Yamauchi took Nintendo public, listing the company in Osaka Stock Exchange Second division.[7]

text: Following the aforementioned success, in 1963 Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd. was renamed to Nintendo by Yamauchi.[7] Nintendo now began to experiment in other areas of business using the newly injected capital. During the period of time between 1963 and 1968, Nintendo set up a taxi company, "love hotel" chain, food company (trying to sell instant rice, similar to instant noodles) and several other things[9] (including a vacuum cleaner, Chiritory, which later appeared as a two-player game in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ in 2003). All these ventures eventually failed, except toymaking, where they had some earlier experience from selling playing cards.[10] In 1964, while Japan was experiencing an economic boom due to the Tokyo Olympics, the playing card business reached its saturation point. Japanese households stopped buying playing cards, and the price of Nintendo stock fell from 900 yen to 60 yen.[citation needed]

text: In 1965, Nintendo hired Gunpei Yokoi as a maintenance engineer for the assembly line. However, Yokoi soon became famous for much more than his ability to repair conveyor belts.[11]

text: 1966–1972: Toy company and new ventures[edit]

text: Nintendo struggled to survive in the Japanese toy industry; it was still small at this point, and dominated by already well-established companies such as Bandai and Tomy. Because of the generally short product life cycle of toys, the company always had to come up with new products. This was the beginning of a major new era for Nintendo.

text: In 1966, Yamauchi was observing a hanafuda factory. He noticed an extending arm, which was made by one of their maintenance engineers, Gunpei Yokoi, for his own amusement. Yamauchi ordered Yokoi to develop it as a proper product for the Christmas rush. Released as the "Ultra Hand", it would become one of Nintendo's earliest toy blockbusters, selling over a million units. Seeing that Yokoi had promise, Yamauchi pulled him off assembly line work. Yokoi was soon moved from maintenance duty to product development.

text: Due to his electrical engineering background, it soon become apparent that Yokoi was quite adept at developing electronic toys. These devices had a much higher novelty value than traditional toys, allowing Nintendo to charge a higher price margin for each product. Yokoi went on to develop many other toys, including the Ten Billion Barrel puzzle, a baseball throwing machine called the Ultra Machine, and a Love Tester. Another invention of his, in collaboration with Masayuki Uemura from Sharp, was the Nintendo Beam Gun Game, the precursor to the NES Zapper (which was used in games like Duck Hunt.).

text: Nintendo released the first solar-powered light gun, the Nintendo Beam Gun,[12] in 1970; this was the first commercially available light-gun for home use, produced in partnership with Sharp.[13]

text: In 1972, Nintendo released the Ele-Conga, one of the first programmable drum machines. It could play pre-programmed rhythms from disc-shaped punch cards, which could be altered or programmed by the user, to play different patterns.[14]

text: 1972–present: Electronic games[edit]

text: In 1972, the first commercially available video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, had a light gun accessory, the Shooting Gallery.[15] This was the first involvement of Nintendo in video games. According to Martin Picard in the International Journal of Computer Game Research: "in 1971, Nintendo had -- even before the marketing of the first home console in the United States -- an alliance with the American pioneer Magnavox to develop and produce optoelectronic guns for the Odyssey (released in 1972), since it was similar to what Nintendo was able to offer in the Japanese toy market in 1970s".[16]

text: In 1973, its focus shifted to family entertainment venues with the Laser Clay Shooting System,[17] using the same light gun technology used in Nintendo's Kousenjuu series of toys, and set up in abandoned bowling alleys. Following some success, Nintendo developed several more light gun machines for the emerging arcade scene. While the Laser Clay Shooting System ranges had to be shut down following excessive costs, Nintendo had found a new market.

text: In 1974, Nintendo secured the rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey video game console in Japan.

text: Color TV-Game 6[edit]

text: Nintendo at this time saw how successful video games were and began to dabble in them. Their first step in that field was to secure the rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey in Japan in 1975. At the time, home video game consoles were extremely rare—even the seminal Atari Pong console had yet to be produced. After experiencing reasonable success at this, Nintendo began developing its own video games, both for home and for arcades. In the 1970s, Mitsubishi Electric proposed joint development of "Color TV Game Machine". In 1977, they released "Color TV Game 6" and "Color TV Game 15" (6 and 15 indicates the number of games).[7]

text: Their first video arcade game was 1975's EVR Race;[18] a handful of others followed in the next several years, Radar Scope and Donkey Kong being among the most famous of these. The early 1980s saw Nintendo's video game division (led by Yokoi) creating some of its most famous arcade titles. The massively popular Donkey Kong was created in 1981, with Shigeru Miyamoto as its mastermind, and released in the arcades and on the Atari 2600, Intellivision, and ColecoVision video game systems (although Nintendo themselves generally had no involvement with these early console ports). This release method would be used on several later Nintendo arcade games of this same period, including the original Mario Bros. (not to be confused with the later Super Mario Bros.) In addition to this arcade and dedicated console game activity, Nintendo was testing the consumer handheld video game waters with the Game & Watch.

text: Game & Watch and Nintendo Entertainment System[edit]

text: Game & Watch or G&W is a line of handheld electronic games produced by Nintendo from 1980 to 1991. Created by game designer Gunpei Yokoi, each Game & Watch features a single game to be played on an LCD screen in addition to a clock and/or an alarm. It was the earliest Nintendo product to garner major success, with 43.4 million units sold worldwide.

text: In 1982, Nintendo developed a prototype system dubbed the "Advanced Video System" (or AVS for short) and had controllers much like the NES. There were accessories such as a tape drive, a joystick and a lightgun, and along with all of that, the system was made of a computer, much like the Atari 400, Commodore Vic-20 and Commodore 64. It was never released and is on display at the Nintendo World Store in New York. In July 1983, Nintendo released the Famicom (Family Computer) system in Japan, which was its first attempt at a cartridge-based video game console. The system sold over 500,000 units within two months at a price around $100 USD. However, after a few months of favorable sales, Nintendo received complaints that some Famicom consoles would freeze when the player attempted to play certain games. The fault was found in a malfunctioning chip and Nintendo decided to recall all Famicom units that were currently on store shelves, which ultimately cost them approximately half a million USD[citation needed].

text: During this period, Nintendo rekindled their desire to release the Famicom (Or Nintendo Entertainment System) in the US. Since the company had very little experience with the US market, they had previously attempted to contract with Atari for the system's distribution in 1983. However, a fiasco involving Coleco and Donkey Kong soured the relationship between the two during the negotiations, and Atari refused to back Nintendo's console.

text: In 1983-1985, a large scale recession in video game sales hit the market which amounted to a 97% decrease primarily in the North American area. The recession known as the "video game crash of 1983" was caused by a few main factors including the flooding of the console market, competition of home computers, inflation, and loss of publishing control. The video game crash of 1983 soon took out not only Atari, but the vast majority of the American market itself. Over time, dominance in the market shifted from America to Japan. Nintendo began exporting to America and had virtually only one major competitor in the market, Sega, which was another Japanese company.

text: Nintendo was determined not to make the same mistakes in the US that Atari had. Because of massive influxes of games that were regarded as some of the worst ever created, gaming had almost completely died out in America. Nintendo decided that to avoid facing the same problems, they would only allow games that received their "Seal of Quality" to be sold for the Famicom.

text: In 1985, Nintendo announced that they were releasing the Famicom worldwide with a different design under the name the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). They used a creative tactic to counter the bad view that the media was giving on video games, and released the NES with R.O.B. units that connected to the console and were synchronised to the games. To ensure the localization of the highest-quality games by third-party developers, Nintendo of America limited the number of game titles third-party developers could release in a single year to five. Konami, the first third-party company that was allowed to make cartridges for the Famicom, would later circumvent this rule by creating a spinoff company, Ultra Games, to release additional games in a single year. Other manufacturers soon employed the same tactic. Also in 1985, Super Mario Bros. was released for the Famicom in Japan and became a large success.

text: Nintendo test marketed the Nintendo Entertainment System in the New York area on October 18, 1985. They expanded the test to Los Angeles in February 1986, followed by tests in Chicago and San Francisco. They would go national by the end of 1986, along with 15 games, sold separately. In the US and Canada, it outsold its competitors by a wide margin. This was also the year that Metroid and Super Mario Bros. 2 (the Japanese version) were released. In 1987, The Legend of Zelda was released to much critical acclaim.

text: In 1988, Nintendo of America unveiled Nintendo Power, a monthly news and strategy magazine from Nintendo that served to advertise new games. The first issue published was the July/August edition, which spotlighted the NES game Super Mario Bros. 2. Nintendo Power has since ceased publication with its December 2012 edition.[19]

text: Game Boy and Super NES[edit]

text: In 1989, Nintendo (which had seen a large amount of success from the Game & Watch) released the Game Boy (both created by Gunpei Yokoi), along with the accompanying game Tetris. Due to the price, the game and its durability (unlike the prior Microvision from Milton Bradley Company, which was prone to static and screen rot), the Game Boy line sold extremely well, eventually amassing sales of 118 million units.[20] Later, Super Mario Land was also released for the Game Boy, which sold 14 million copies worldwide. 1989 was also the year that Nintendo announced a sequel to the Famicom, to be called the Super Famicom.[21]

text: The last major first-party game for the NES, Super Mario Bros. 3, was released in early 1990, and went on to sell over 18 million units.[22] It was followed by a licensed television adaption named The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which was released by DIC Entertainment and Viacom Enterprises in that year to capitalise on the game's immense popularity.

text: The Super Famicom was released in Japan on November 21, 1990. The system's launch was widely successful, and the Super Famicom was sold out across Japan within three days, selling 1.6 million units by June 1991.[23] In August 1991, the Super Famicom was launched in the US under the name "Super Nintendo Entertainment System" (SNES), followed by Europe in 1992.[24]

text: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System followed in the steps of its predecessor, with high technical specifications for its era. The controller of the SNES had also improved over that of the NES, as it now had rounded edges and four new buttons, a standard which is evident on many modern controllers today.

text: Nintendo had also begun development on a CD-ROM attachment for the SNES/Super Famicom. Their first partner in this project was Sony, whom Nintendo had worked with before to provide the SNES with its SPC sound chip. Development on the Nintendo PlayStation CD-ROM add-on and SNES/SFC standalone hybrid console began. However, at the last minute Nintendo decided to pull out of the partnership and instead go with Philips, and while no CD-ROM add-on was produced, several Nintendo properties (namely The Legend of Zelda) appeared on the Philips CD-i media console. Upon learning this, Sony decided to continue developing the technology they had into the PlayStation. The exact reason Nintendo left its partnership with Sony has been the subject of speculation over the years, but the most common theory is that Sony either wanted too much of the profits for the machine or the rights to the CD-ROM attachment itself.

text: In Japan, the Super Famicom easily took control of the gaming market. In the US, due to a late start and an aggressive marketing campaign by Sega (Headed by the Sega Company's new mascot, Sonic The Hedgehog, their answer to Nintendo's Super Mario), Nintendo saw its market share take a precipitous plunge from 90-95% with the NES to a low of approximately 35% against the Sega Genesis. Over the course of several years, the SNES in North America eventually overtook the Genesis, thanks to franchise titles such as Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Street Fighter II, and the Final Fantasy series. Total worldwide sales of the SNES reached 49.10 million units,[20] eclipsing the estimated 40 million unit sales of the Genesis.[25]

text: As the SNES battled the Sega Genesis, Nintendo was running into problems on another front caused by their own aggressive marketing behavior. In 1991, Nintendo agreed to a settlement regarding price-fixing allegations brought by the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general in New York and Maryland. Nintendo had been accused of threatening to cut off shipments of the NES to retailers who discounted the price of the system. The estimated cost of the settlement was just under $30 million.[26]

text: In 1992, Gunpei Yokoi and the rest of R&D 1 began planning on a new virtual reality console to be called the Virtual Boy. Hiroshi Yamauchi also bought majority shares of the Seattle Mariners in 1992.[27] By May 1993, Nintendo had reportedly become one of the top ten leading companies in the world.[28]

text: In 1993, Nintendo announced plans to develop a new 64-bit console codenamed Project Reality that would be capable of rendering fully 3D environments and characters. In 1994, Nintendo also claimed that Project Reality would be renamed Ultra 64 in the US. The Ultra 64 moniker was unveiled in arcades on the Nintendo branded fighting game Killer Instinct and the racing game Cruisin' USA. Killer Instinct was later released on the SNES. Soon after, Nintendo realized they had mistakenly chosen a name for their new console that the Konami corporation owned the rights to. Specifically, only Konami would have the rights to release games for the new system called Ultra Football, Ultra Tennis, etc. Therefore, in 1995 Nintendo changed the final name of the system to the Nintendo 64, and announced that it would be released in 1996. They later showed previews of the system and several games, including Super Mario 64, to the media and public. 1995 is also the year that Nintendo purchased part of Rare.

text: In 1994, after many years of Nintendo's products being distributed in Australia by Mattel since the NES in 1985, Nintendo opened its Australian headquarters and its first Managing Directors were Graham Kerry, who moved along from Mattel Australia as Managing Director and Susumu Tanaka of Nintendo UK Ltd.

text: In 1995, Nintendo released the Virtual Boy in Japan. The console sold poorly, but Nintendo still said they had hope for it and continued to release several other games and attempted a release in the US, which was another disaster.

text: Also in 1995, Nintendo found themselves in a competitive situation. Competitor Sega introduced their 32-bit Saturn, while newcomer Sony introduced the 32-bit PlayStation. Sony's fierce marketing campaigns ensued, and it started to cut into Nintendo and Sega's market share.

text: Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color[edit]

text: On June 23, 1996, the Nintendo 64 (N64) was released in Japan, selling over 500,000 units on the first day of its release.[17] On September 29, 1996, Nintendo released the Nintendo 64 in North America, selling out the initial shipment of 350,000.[17] Many feel that the advertising onslaught by Sony at this time did not truly begin to take effect until many of the consumers who held out for the N64 became frustrated at the lack of software following the first few months after the system's release. What also greatly contributed to the extremely competitive climate that Nintendo was entrenched in was the fact that many third-party companies immediately began developing and releasing many of their leading games for Nintendo's competing consoles. Many of those third party companies cited cheaper development and manufacturing costs for the CD format, versus the cartridge format. On December 1, 1999, Nintendo released an add-on to the Nintendo 64 in Japan, titled the Nintendo 64DD, although it was never released elsewhere.

text: Nintendo followed with the release of the Game Boy Pocket, a smaller version of the original Game Boy, designed by Gunpei Yokoi as a parting gift. A week after the release of the Game Boy Pocket, Gunpei resigned from his position at Nintendo. Gunpei helped in the creation of a competitor system named the WonderSwan, using the skills he gained in the creation of the Game Boy.

text: In 1996, Pocket Monsters (known internationally as "Pokémon") was released in Japan to a huge following. The Pokémon franchise, created by Satoshi Tajiri, was proving so popular in America, Europe, and Japan, that for a brief time, Nintendo took back their place as the supreme power in the games industry.

text: In 1997, Game Boy and Metroid creator Gunpei Yokoi died in a car accident at the age of 56.[11]

text: On October 13, 1998, the Game Boy Color was released in Japan, with releases in North America and Europe a month later.

text: Game Boy Advance and GameCube[edit]

text: Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance in Japan on March 21, 2001, followed by the North American launch on June 11 and the European launch on June 22.

text: Nintendo released the GameCube home video game console on September 14, 2001, in Japan. It was released in North America on November 18, 2001, Europe on May 3, 2002, and Australia on May 17, 2002.

text: In January 2002, Minoru Arakawa resigned as president of Nintendo of America, and Nintendo named Tatsumi Kimishima as his successor.[29]

text: In May 2002, Hiroshi Yamauchi stepped down as the president of Nintendo and named Satoru Iwata his successor.[30]

text: During the same year, Nintendo and Chinese-American scientist Dr Wei Yen co-founded iQue to manufacture and distribute official Nintendo consoles and games for the mainland Chinese market under the iQue brand.[31] Nintendo's aggressive business tactics in Europe would catch up to them. The European Commission determined that Nintendo had engaged in anticompetitive price-fixing business practices dating at least as far back as the early 1990s. This resulted in a heavy fine being laid against the company — €149 million, one of the largest antitrust fines applied in the history of the commission.[32]

text: Nintendo DS and Wii[edit]

text: In May 2004, Nintendo announced plans to release a new brand of handheld, unrelated to the Game Boy, featuring two screens, one of which was touch-sensitive. The Nintendo DS, released on November 21, 2004, received over three million pre-orders. In addition to the touch screen, the DS can also create three-dimensional graphics, similar to those of the Nintendo 64, although its lack of hardware support for texture filtering results in more pixelated graphics than on the Nintendo 64.

text: President Satoru Iwata reassigned all of Nintendo's software designers under new managers and different division; most of the resources were allocated to Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka and the Nintendo EAD division.

text: On May 14, 2005, Nintendo opened its first retail store accessible to the general public, Nintendo World Store, at the Rockefeller Center in New York City. It consists of two stories, and contains many kiosks of GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS games. There are also display cases filled with things from Nintendo's past, including Hanafuda playing cards, Nintendo's first product. They celebrated the opening with a block party at Rockefeller Plaza.

text: At E3 in May 2005, Nintendo displayed the first prototype for their "next-generation" system, codenamed the Nintendo Revolution (now known as the Wii), its controller revealed at the Tokyo Game Show later that year.

text: On January 26, 2006, Nintendo announced a new version of their Nintendo DS handheld, the Nintendo DS Lite, designed to be smaller and lighter, with a brighter screen. It was launched in Japan on March 2, 2006, and three months later in North America and Europe on June 11 and June 23, 2006, respectively.

text: On May 25, 2006, Reggie Fils-Aimé was promoted to President and COO of Nintendo of America, Inc. The former President, Tatsumi Kimishima, was promoted to Chairman of the Board and CEO.[33]

text: On July 7, 2006, Nintendo officially established a South Korean subsidiary, Nintendo Korea, in the country's capital, Seoul, which replaced Daewon Media as the official distributor of Nintendo products in South Korea.[34]

text: In early August 2006, it was revealed that Nintendo, along with Microsoft, was made the target of a patent-infringement lawsuit. Leveled by the Anascape Ltd., the suit claimed that Nintendo's use of analog technology in their game controllers constitutes a violation of their patents. The lawsuit sought to recover damages from both corporations and possibly force them to stop selling controllers with the violating technology.[35] Microsoft settled with Anasacape, while Nintendo went to trial, initially losing and being ordered to pay US$21 million in damages.[36] Nintendo appealed, and on April 23, 2010 the Federal Circuit reversed the ruling.[37] In November 2010, Anascape's appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States was denied.[38]

text: In mid-September 2006, during press conferences held in Tokyo, New York, and London on 13, 14 and 15 September, respectively, Nintendo announced launch details for its Wii console, as well as demonstrated features of the "Wii Menu" GUI. The system was first released on November 19, 2006 in the US, followed by the Japanese launch on December 2, the Australian launch on December 6, and the European launch on December 8.[39]

text: The console sold fast and was a big breakthrough for Nintendo,[40] picking up the pace lost from their last console, the GameCube. The success of the Wii has been attributed to the intended market of the product; while at the time most competitors were focusing on more adult and fan-based games, Nintendo decided to release a console for a larger demographic, one including casual gamers, children and those who wouldn't ordinarily play video games. Since no other major gaming console was marketing for this image, these other companies were caught mostly unprepared by the success of the Wii system, and it wasn't until 2010 that Sony and Microsoft released consoles targeting the same demographic as the Wii.[41]

text: On September 17, 2007, Nintendo of America closed its official forums, the NSider Forums, indefinitely due to a major overhaul of their site. For months prior, cutbacks in Nintendo of America's online department led to the trimming back of NSider's chat hours and the replacement of their annual Camp Hyrule event — held during August — with a sweepstakes. In the meantime, Nintendo encouraged fans to run their own forums. Nintendo-Europe's forum section of their site was also officially closed down a week later due to a site revamp, however it had been offline citing "security issues" since June of that year. On December 19, 2007, Nintendo opened a forum for technical support only.

text: In October 2007, Nintendo announced Nintendo Australia's new Managing Director, Rose Lappin. She is Nintendo's first female head of one of its subsidiaries and worked for Nintendo before it started in Australia as Director of Sales and Marketing for Mattel and had that role until she was announced Managing Director.

text: On November 1, 2008, Nintendo released an updated version of the Nintendo DS Lite in Japan; the Nintendo DSi. It includes all features of the Nintendo DS Lite, but it includes a camera on the inside and outside of the system, and newer features. It is the first handheld game system manufactured by Nintendo that allows downloadable gaming content to the system. The Nintendo DSi was released April 2, 2009, in Australia and Asia, April 3, 2009, in Europe, and April 5, 2009, in North America.

text: Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch[edit]

text: On February 26, 2011, the Nintendo 3DS was released in Japan. It was released on March 25 and 27 to Europe and the US, respectively. The 3DS was part of a large wave of 3D technologies being released at the time; unlike most of these, the 3DS did not use 3D glasses for its 3D effect, and instead used parallax barrier autostereoscopy.

text: On April 25, 2011, Nintendo confirmed that they were making a new console to be released in 2012.[42] On June 7, 2011, the console was announced as being named the Wii U. The Wii U is Nintendo's first console to be able to play video games in 1080p HD. During the Electronics Entertainment Expo in 2011, Nintendo's press conference put a great amount of stress on the abilities and innovations of the new controller, a unit resembling a tablet.

text: Many gamers were confused after the press conference about whether the Wii U is an entirely new system or just a new controller for the Wii. The Wii U was, however, a whole new home console system developed by Nintendo. The system was released on November 18, 2012 in North America, November 30, 2012 in Europe and Australia, and on December 8, 2012 in Japan.[43][44] It featured a new controller with a 6.2 inch touchscreen, two thumb pads, four shoulder buttons, a directional pad, and four lettered buttons. It also featured an accelerometer, gyroscope, camera, Near-field communications (NFC), and built-in microphone, similar those in the Nintendo 3DS.[45]

text: On July 11, 2015, Satoru Iwata died from a bile duct tumor at the age of 55. Following his death, Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda jointly led the company on an interim basis until Tatsumi Kimishima's appointment as Iwata's successor on September 16, 2015.[46] In addition to the appointment, Miyamoto was named "Creative Fellow" while Takeda was named "Technology Fellow".[47]

text: In October 2016, Nintendo revealed a new system called the Nintendo Switch, which was released on March 3, 2017. It is a hybrid video game console with detachable controllers with an emphasize on portability and on the go multiplayer in contrast of the then competitors PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In the year the Switch was released Nintendo put out The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, both games with critical acclaim that helped sell millions of units in the first year of the new console, eventually culminating with the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being named Game of the Year 2017.[48]