Presidential Elections Act 1991

2020 REVISED EDITION

This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021

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

[2 November 1992]

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Short title

1. This Act is the Presidential Elections Act 1991.

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 2;

“Commissioner of National Registration” means the Commissioner of National Registration appointed under the National Registration Act 1965;

“community” means —

(a)	the Chinese community;
(b)	the Malay community; or
(c)	the Indian or other minority communities;

“community certificate” means a community certificate issued by the Community Committee under Division 3 of Part 2;

“Community Committee” means the Community Committee established by section 8E;

“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 or her vote for any candidate on a ballot display on the machine;
(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;

“election agent” means a person named under section 43 by or on behalf of a candidate as his or her agent for an election and includes any candidate acting in his or her capacity of election agent;

“Election Judge” has the meaning given by 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 1954;

“overseas elector” means an elector who is registered under the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 in any register of electors as an overseas elector;

“overseas polling station” has the meaning given by the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954;

“polling district” means a part of an electoral division subdivided under section 9 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954;

“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 1954;

“Registration Officer” means the Registration Officer appointed under section 3 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 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;

“Returning Officer” means the Returning Officer appointed under section 3;

“Sub-Committee” means any of the following Sub‑Committees established by section 8E:

(a)	the Chinese Community Sub-Committee;
(b)	the Malay Community Sub-Committee;
(c)	the Indian and Other Minority Communities Sub‑Committee;

“tendered votes list” means the list referred to in section 29;

“voter” means a person who, whether his or her name does or does not appear in a register of electors, applies to vote or votes at an election.

[6/2017]

(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, herself or others) as seeking nomination as a candidate at that election. [6/2017]

Appointment of Returning Officer and Assistant Returning Officers

3.—(1) The Minister may appoint a Returning Officer and any number of Assistant Returning Officers as the Minister thinks fit.

(2) An Assistant Returning Officer has all the powers and may perform all the duties of the Returning Officer.

(3) Any reference in this Act to the Returning Officer is deemed, unless the context otherwise requires, to include a reference to an Assistant Returning Officer.

(4) An appointment made by the Minister under this section may be revoked by the Minister at any time.

Appointment of clerks and interpreters

4.—(1) The Returning Officer may appoint any number of clerks and interpreters that 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 or her 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 or her.

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