Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Act 2005

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REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE

ACTS SUPPLEMENT

Published by Authority

NO. 19]

Friday, June 10

[2005

The following Act was passed by Parliament on 16th May 2005 and assented to by the President on 31st May 2005:—

Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Act 2005

(No. 18 of 2005)

I assent.

SIM KEE BOON,

President.
Person exercising the
Functions of the President

31st May 2005.

Date of Commencement: 6th June 2005

An Act to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act (Chapter 218 of the 2001 Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Act 2005 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 2

2. Section 2(2) of the Parliamentary Elections Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended by deleting the words “For the purposes of the definition of “election advertising”in subsection (1)” and substituting the words “For the purposes of this Act”.

Amendment of section 11

3. Section 11 of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsections (7) and (16).

Amendment of section 12

4. Section 12 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)	by deleting the words “, shall state shortly the ground of appeal and shall bear a stamp of $5” in subsection (3) and substituting the words “and shall state shortly the ground of appeal”; and
(b)	by deleting subsection (6).

Amendment of section 27

5. Section 27 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting subsections (2), (2A) and (2B) and substituting the following subsection:

“(2) A person may be nominated to be a candidate for election only by means of a nomination paper in Form 9 in the First Schedule, which shall —

(a)	set out the name, identity card number and occupation of the person;
(b)	be signed by a proposer and a seconder, and 4 or more persons as assentors, each of whom must be a person whose name appears in the register of electors for the electoral division in which the person seeks election;
(c)	contain a statement, signed by that person, to the effect that he consents to the nomination; and
(d)	contain a statutory declaration by the person seeking nomination stating that he is qualified to be elected.”;

(b)

by deleting paragraph (a) of subsection (3);

(c)

by deleting the words “under subsection (3)(a)” in subsection (3A) and substituting the words “which is required by subsection (2)(d) to be made is not so made,”; and

(d)

by deleting the words “and statutory declaration” in subsection (4).

Amendment of section 27B

6. Section 27B of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting subsections (2), (2A) and (2B) and substituting the following subsection:

“(2) A group of persons may be nominated to be a group of candidates for election in a group representation constituency only by means of a nomination paper in Form 9A in the First Schedule, which shall —

(a)	set out the name, identity card number and occupation of each of those persons;
(b)	be signed by a proposer and a seconder, and 4 or more persons as assentors, each of whom must be a person whose name appears in the register of electors for the group representation constituency in which the group seeks election;
(c)	contain a statement, signed by each of the persons, to the effect that he consents to the nomination; and
(d)	contain a statutory declaration by each of the persons seeking nomination stating that he is qualified to be elected, and the political party for which the group stands (if any).”;

(b)

by deleting paragraph (a) of subsection (3);

(c)

by deleting the words “statutory declaration or” in subsection (3A) and substituting the words “statutory declaration which is required by subsection (2)(d) to be made is not so made, or any”; and

(d)

by deleting the words “and statutory declaration” in subsection (4).

Amendment of section 29

7. Section 29 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “, statutory declarations,” in subsection (1) and substituting the word “and”;

(b)

by deleting subsection (2) and substituting the following subsection:

“(2) Every such nomination paper and certificate shall be delivered to the Returning Officer, in duplicate and in person, by the person seeking nomination accompanied by his proposer, seconder and at least 4 assentors, at the place of nomination between 11 a.m. and 12 noon (both times inclusive) on the day of nomination, and if not so delivered, shall be rejected.”; and

(c)

by deleting the words “and seconders” in subsection (4) and substituting the words “, seconders and assentors”.

New section 29A

8. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 29, the following section:

“Amendment of nomination papers

29A.—(1) Subject to subsection (3), where the Returning Officer detects in any nomination paper —

(a)	an error or omission, or what appears to be an error or omission, which may amount to a ground for rejecting the nomination paper or allowing an objection to the nomination paper; or
(b)	anything which may affect the validity of the nomination paper and the Returning Officer considers that it can be corrected before 12 noon on the day of nomination,

the Returning Officer may, before making his decision under section 29 or 30, give the candidate or person seeking nomination, as the case may be, a reasonable opportunity to correct the error or omission before 12 noon on the day of nomination.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), where any error or omission in a person’s nomination paper is brought to the attention of the candidate or person seeking nomination (whether by the Returning Officer under subsection (1) or following an objection made under section 30), the candidate or person seeking nomination, as the case may be, may, at any time before 12 noon on the day of nomination but no later, take such action as may be necessary to correct any such error or omission in his nomination paper.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) shall authorise any candidate or person seeking nomination to substitute a different person —

(a)	as a candidate for election for an electoral division; or
(b)	as proposer, seconder or assentor.

(4) In this section, “error” has the same meaning as in section 103.”.

Amendment of section 30

9. Section 30 of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after subsection (1), the following subsection:

“(1A) Without prejudice to subsection (4), an objection to the nomination paper of a candidate or a group of candidates for election for an electoral division may only be made by

(a)	another candidate for election for that same electoral division;
(b)	that other candidate’s proposer, seconder or any of his assentors; or
(c)	the one other person (if any) appointed in writing by that other candidate to be present on the day and at the place of nomination.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 31

10. Section 31 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Persons entitled to be present during nomination proceedings

31. The following persons, and no others, shall be entitled to be present at the proceedings specified in sections 29 and 32:

(a)	the candidates;
(b)	each candidate’s proposer, seconder and assentors;
(c)	one other person (if any) appointed in writing by each candidate;
(d)	the Returning Officer and such other persons authorised by the Returning Officer to assist him at such proceedings; and
(e)	any other person with the written permission of the Returning Officer to be present at those proceedings.”.

Amendment of section 32

11. Section 32 (1) of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the words “by giving”, the words “, in person,”.

Amendment of section 32A

12. Section 32A of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection:

“(1) If at 12 noon on the day of nomination in relation to an election —

(a)	a person is nominated to be a candidate for election in more than one electoral division at a general election; or
(b)	a person is nominated more than once to be a candidate for election in the same electoral division,

each such nomination shall be deemed to be void.”.

Amendment of section 33

13. The principal Act is amended by renumbering section 33 as subsection (1) of that section, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following subsection:

“(2) Nothing in sections 29 and 30 shall prevent the Returning Officer from exercising any of his powers under subsection (1) before 12.30 p.m. if, at 12 noon on the day of nomination for an election in any electoral division, only one candidate or one group of candidates stands nominated for that electoral division.”.

Amendment of section 74

14. Section 74 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (e) of subsection (1) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(e)	every donation accepted by the election agent or by the candidate for the purpose of expenses incurred or to be incurred on account of or in respect of the management of the election, naming every person from whom the donation may have been received.”;

(b)

by deleting the words “Forms 20 and 21 in the First Schedule and shall be on oath before a Justice of the Peace or a commissioner for oaths” in subsection (2) and substituting the words “Forms 19 and 20 in the First Schedule”; and

(c)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (4), the following subsection:

“(5) In this section, “donation” has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Political Donations Act (Cap. 236), and a donation is accepted by a candidate or an election agent if it is accepted within the meaning of that Act.”.

Amendment of section 103

15. Section 103 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after the word “No”, the words “omission and no”; and

(b)

by renumbering the section as subsection (1) of that section, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following subsections:

“(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), no nomination paper shall be rejected, and no objection shall be allowed, on account of —

(a)	any error or omission in a nomination paper in relation to the description of, or any particulars in respect of, the candidate or person seeking nomination, or his proposer or seconder or any of his assentors, if the particulars contained in the nomination paper are sufficient to identify the candidate or person seeking nomination, or his proposer, seconder or assentor, as the case may be;
(b)	any error or omission with regard to any place specified in the nomination paper, if such place is otherwise sufficiently identifiable from the particulars given in the nomination paper; or
(c)	any error or omission that is corrected before 12 noon on the day of nomination in accordance with section 29A.

(3) In this section —

(a)	“error” includes any misnomer, misspelling, misprint, misplacement, mistake, inaccuracy, omission, and any clerical, technical or printing error, and any error of any other description or nature; and
(b)	“particulars” and “description” each includes anything stated or required to be stated in respect of any person or place in the nomination paper.”.

New section 109

16. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 108, the following section:

“Composition of offences

109.—(1) The Returning Officer, or any officer of the Elections Department who is authorised by the Returning Officer, may, in his discretion, compound any offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder which is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence —

(a)	one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence; or
(b)	a sum not exceeding $500,

whichever is the lower.

(2) The Minister may make regulations to prescribe the offences which may be compounded.

(3) On payment of such sum of money, no further proceedings shall be taken against that person in respect of the offence.

(4) All sums collected under this section shall be paid to the Consolidated Fund.”.

Amendment of First Schedule

17. Forms 10 and 21 of the First Schedule to the principal Act are deleted.

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