Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 48/1973

Read the first time on 28th August 1973.

An Act to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act (Chapter 50 of the 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, 1973 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 5

2. Section 5 of the Parliamentary Elections Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the principal Act”) is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(1) Subject to the provisions of sections 6 and 7 of this Act any person who on the 1st day of July in any year —

(a)	is a citizen of Singapore;
(b)	is ordinarily resident in Singapore; and
(c)	is not less than twenty-one years of age,

shall be entitled to have his name entered or retained in a register of electors in that year.”; and

(b)

by deleting the word “February” appearing in the fifth and in the tenth lines of subsection (2) thereof and substituting therefor in each case the word “July”.

Amendment of section 6

3. Section 6 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the expression “, subsection (3) of section 18” appearing in paragraph (g) thereof.

Amendment of section 9

4. Subsection (2) of section 9 of the principal Act is hereby deleted and the following substituted therefor: —

“(2) The subdivision of an electoral division into polling districts may be altered by the Registration Officer as occasion may require; and upon any such alteration being made he shall publish in the Gazette a notice specifying in relation to that electoral division the particulars mentioned in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section. Any such alteration shall come into effect on the date of the publication of the notice under subsection (1) of section 20 of this Act relating to the next certification of the register of electors for that electoral division, but the revision of such register before such certification shall be made on the basis of such alteration.”.

Amendment of section 10

5. Section 10 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting subsections (1) and (2) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(1) As soon as may be after the publication of any notification under section 8 of this Act the Registration Officer, with such assistance as he may require from the Commissioner appointed under the National Registration Act (Cap. 45), shall prepare for that year a separate register of electors for each electoral division and shall enter in such register the names of all persons who are qualified as electors under the provisions of section 5 of this Act and are not disqualified by any of the provisions of section 6 of this Act.

(2) The registers of electors which are in operation on the date of the commencement of the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Act, 1973, shall be deemed to have been prepared under subsection (1) of this section, and shall continue in operation until superseded by revised or new registers.”.

Amendment of section 11

6. Subsection (2) of section 11 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “fourteen” appearing in the fifth line thereof and substituting therefor the word “twenty-one”.

Amendment of section 13

7. Section 13 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “registers of electors” appearing in the third line of subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the expression “register of electors for each electoral division in the Form 7 in the First Schedule to this Act”;

(b)

by deleting subsection (2) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(2) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to prohibit the Registration Officer, within seven days after certifying any register, from correcting any clerical or other error therein:

Provided that such correction does not affect the entitlement of any person to have his name included or retained therein.”.

Repeal of section 14

8. Section 14 of the principal Act is hereby repealed.

Amendment of section 15

9. Subsection (1) of section 15 of the principal Act is hereby deleted and the following substituted therefor: —

“(1) The Minister may from time to time, but in any case not later than three years after the last general election, require the Registration Officer to revise the registers of electors and complete the revision before such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 16

10. Section 16 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Method of revising register

16.—(1) In revising a register, the Registration Officer shall enter the names of all persons who are qualified as electors under the provisions of section 5 of this Act and are not disqualified by any of the provisions of section 6 of this Act.

(2) Upon the completion of the revised register of electors referred to in subsection (1) of this section, the Registration Officer shall give notice in the Gazette that such register of electors has been completed and that the register, or copy thereof, is open for inspection at all reasonable hours of the day at the office of the Registration Officer and at such place or places as may be specified in the notice.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of sections 17 and 18

11. Sections 17 and 18 of the principal Act are hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Claims and objections at revision of register

17. The provisions of sections 11 and 12 of this Act shall apply to a revision of a register of electors as they apply to the preparation of the register.

Certification of revised register

18. The provisions of section 13 of this Act shall apply to the certification of a revised register of electors as they apply to the certification of the register.”.

New section 19A

12. The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 19 thereof the following section: —

“Persons residing in building located on common boundary

19A.—(1) In preparing or revising a register of electors the Registration Officer may in his discretion enter the name of any person in the register of electors for such electoral division as he considers appropriate if that person is residing in a building which is located on a common boundary between two or more electoral divisions.

(2) The decision of the Registration Officer under subsection (1) of this section shall be final and conclusive and shall not be called in question in any court.”.

Amendment of section 20

13. Subsection (2) of section 20 of the principal Act is hereby deleted and the following substituted therefor: —

“(2) The certified register shall —

(a)	in the case of a register prepared under subsection (1) of section 10 of this Act come into operation at the next general election and not earlier; and
(b)	in the case of a revised register come into operation on the date of publication of the notice of the certification of the register in the Gazette,

and subject to such alterations as may subsequently be made therein in accordance with section 13, 18 or 43 of this Act, such register shall continue in operation until superseded by the coming into operation of the next certified register.”.

Amendment of section 28

14. Section 28 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “five hundred dollars” appearing in the sixth line of subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the words “one thousand two hundred dollars”; and

(b)

by inserting immediately after subsection (5) thereof the following subsection: —

“(6) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, vary the amount of deposit specified in subsection (1) of this section but such amount shall not exceed ten per cent of the total allowances payable to a Member of Parliament in each year.”.

Amendment of First Schedule

15. The First Schedule to the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting Forms 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 appearing therein and substituting therefor the following: —

“

FORM 8

The Parliamentary Elections Act.
(Chapter 50)

Section 25.

NOTICE OF ELECTION OF A MEMBER OF THE ELECTORAL DIVISION OF

The President having issued his writ for the election of a Member of Parliament for the electoral division of .................................................... the Returning Officer will on the ............................ day of ..................................... , 19 ...................... now next ensuing between the hours of eleven o’clock and twelve noon at .................... proceed to the nomination, and if there is no opposition, to the election of a Member for the electoral division of .......................................................................................

Forms of nomination papers may be obtained at the office of the Returning Officer between the hours of ......................... and ......................... daily except on Saturday when the office is closed at ............................ p.m. (Sunday also excepted).

Every nomination paper must be signed by any six or more electors qualified to vote in the electoral division of ............................ .................................. and be handed to the Returning Officer between the said hours of eleven o’clock and twelve noon.

No nomination paper shall be valid or acted upon by the Returning Officer unless it is accompanied by —

(a) the consent in writing of the person therein nominated; and

(b) a deposit of one thousand and two hundred dollars in cash; and

The office of the Returning Officer is situate at ..............................................

............................................
Returning Officer”.

Date ........................

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