Presidential Elections Act 1991

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Coming into Force: 15 July 2011
• Act Number: (Original Enactment: Act 27 of 1991)
• Enactment Date: 02 November 1992
• Record Number: Cap. 240A
• Published date: 15 July 2011

Presidential Elections Act

(CHAPTER 240A)

(Original Enactment: Act 27 of 1991)

REVISED EDITION 2011

(15th July 2011)

An Act to make provision for the election of the President.

[2nd November 1992]

PART I PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Presidential Elections Act. Interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “ballot box” includes a ballot container; “ballot display” means an electronic video display, image or representation of a ballot paper on a screen; “candidate” means a person who is nominated as a candidate for election to the office of President; “certificate of eligibility” means a certificate of eligibility issued under Division 2 of Part II; [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] “Commissioner of National Registration” means the Commissioner of National Registration appointed under the National Registration Act (Cap. 201); “community” means — (a) the Chinese community; (b) the Malay community; or (c) the Indian or other minority communities; [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] “community certificate” means a community certificate issued by the Community Committee under Division 3 of Part II; [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] “Community Committee” means the Community Committee established under section 8E; [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] “direct recording electronic voting machine” or “DRE voting machine” means any mechanical, electronic or electro-optical machine that can — (a) be activated by a voter to mark or record his vote for any candidate on a ballot display on the machine; [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] (b) process the vote by means of a computer program; (c) instantaneously record and store that vote within a memory device within the machine; and (d) sort and count votes marked or recorded on all ballot displays on that machine, and includes any computer program that is used in the operation of the machine; “direct recording electronic voting system” or “DRE voting system” means any voting system using DRE voting machines; “election” means an election for the purpose of electing the President; “election advertising” means any poster, banner, notice, circular, handbill, illustration, article, advertisement or other material that can reasonably be regarded as intended — (a) to promote or procure the electoral success of a candidate at an election; or (b) to otherwise enhance the standing of the candidate with the electorate in connection with that election, and such material is election advertising even though it can reasonably be regarded as intended to achieve any other purpose as well and even though it does not expressly mention the name of the candidate, but excludes any button, badge, pen, pencil, balloon and any other thing prescribed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette; [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] “election agent” means a person named under section 43 by or on behalf of a candidate as his agent for an election and includes any candidate acting in his capacity of election agent; “Election Judge” has the same meaning as in the Constitution; “elector” means a person whose name is entered in the register as an elector; “electoral division” means an electoral division specified in a notification for the time being in force under section 8 of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap. 218); “overseas elector” means an elector who is registered under the Parliamentary Elections Act in any register of electors as an overseas elector; “overseas polling station” has the same meaning as in the Parliamentary Elections Act; “polling district” means a part of an electoral division subdivided under section 9 of the Parliamentary Elections Act; “polling station” means any polling station established by or under the authority of the Returning Officer under section 18 for voters to cast their votes at an election, and includes any overseas polling station; “Presidential Elections Committee” means the Presidential Elections Committee established under Article 18 of the Constitution; “principal election agent” means an election agent of a candidate who has been appointed under section 43(2A) as the principal election agent; “register” or “register of electors” means the register of electors for any particular electoral division maintained under the Parliamentary Elections Act; “Registration Officer” means the Registration Officer appointed under section 3 of the Parliamentary Elections Act and includes any Assistant Registration Officer so appointed; “reserved election” means an election reserved under Article 19B(1) of the Constitution read with section 5A, but excludes an election which is an open election under section 5B; [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] “Returning Officer” means the Returning Officer appointed under section 3; “Sub-Committee” means any of the following Sub-Committees established under section 8E: (a) the Chinese Community Sub-Committee; (b) the Malay Community Sub-Committee; (c) the Indian and Other Minority Communities Sub-Committee; [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] “tendered votes list” means the list referred to in section 29; “voter” means a person who, whether his name does or does not appear in a register of electors, applies to vote or votes at an election. [12/93; 18/99; 19/2001; 14/2008] [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] (2) For the purposes of this Act — (a) the reference to the electoral success of a candidate at an election is a reference to the return of the candidate at that election; (b) the reference to the doing of anything mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of “election advertising” in relation to a candidate includes a reference to the doing so by prejudicing the electoral prospects of any other candidate or by prejudicing the other candidate’s standing with the electorate; and (c) the reference to a candidate at an election includes a reference to a person who, on or after the date of the issue of a writ for that election, is declared (by himself or others) as seeking nomination as a candidate at that election. [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] Appointment of Returning Officer and Assistant Returning Officers 3.—(1) The Minister may appoint a Returning Officer and such number of Assistant Returning Officers as he may, from time to time, think fit. (2) An Assistant Returning Officer shall have all the powers and may perform all the duties of the Returning Officer. (3) Any reference in this Act to the Returning Officer shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be deemed to include a reference to an Assistant Returning Officer. (4) An appointment made by the Minister under this section may be revoked by him at any time. Appointment of clerks and interpreters 4.—(1) The Returning Officer may, from time to time, appoint such number of clerks and interpreters as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act. (2) The appointments made under subsection (1) may be revoked at any time. Appointment of acting Returning Officer 5. If the Returning Officer is, by sickness or other cause, prevented or disabled from performing any of his duties under this Act and there is no time for any other person to be appointed by the Minister, the Returning Officer may appoint one of the Assistant Returning Officers to act for him.

PART IA COUNTING OF RESERVED ELECTIONS AND; QUALIFICATIONS OF PRESIDENT Reserved elections: how counted 5A.—(1) The Schedule has effect for the purposes of determining whether an election is reserved under Article 19B(1) of the Constitution. (2) After the Returning Officer declares a person to be elected as President, the Returning Officer must add the person, and the community (if any) the person belongs to, to the Schedule. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2) — (a) if a community certificate was issued to the person, the person is considered to belong to the community stated on the community certificate; and (b) if no community certificate was issued to the person, the person is considered not to belong to the Chinese community, the Malay community or the Indian or other minority communities. (4) If a person has been added to the Schedule and the Election Judge subsequently declares that the person’s election is void or that the return of the person is undue, the Returning Officer must remove the entry in the Schedule relating to the election affected by the declaration. (5) An amendment to the Schedule under subsection (2) or (4) must be made by notification in the Gazette. [Act 6 of 2017 wef 01/04/2017] Further provisions on community requirement 5B.—(1) If an election under a writ is reserved for one community under Article 19B(1) of the Constitution and the election wholly fails, elections under all subsequent writs are to be open elections until a person is elected as President. (2) The following provisions apply if an election under a writ is reserved for 2 communities under Article 19B(1) of the Constitution: (a) Article 19B(2)(b)(i) of the Constitution applies to that election; (b) if that election wholly fails, Article 19B(2)(b)(ii) of the Constitution applies to the election under the next writ; (c) if the election under the next writ wholly fails, elections under all subsequent writs are to be open elections until a person is elected as President. (3) The following provisions apply if an election under a writ is reserved for 3 communities under Article 19B(1) of the Constitution: (a) Article 19B(2)(c)(i) of the Constitution applies to that election; (b) if that election wholly fails, Article 19B(2)(c)(ii) of the Constitution applies to the election under the next writ; (c) if the election under the next writ wholly fails, Article 19B(2)(c)(iii) of the Constitution applies to the election under the third writ; (d) if the election under the third writ wholly fails, elections under all subsequent writs are to be open elections until a person is elected as President. (4) Despite Article 19B(2) of the Constitution, a person does not need to belong to any community to be elected as President in an open election under subsection (1), (2)(c) or (3)(d). (5) For the purposes of this section, an election under a writ is deemed ...