Parliamentary Elections (Overseas Voting) (Amendment) Regulations 2025

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Published in Subsidiary Legislation Supplement
on 20 Jan 2025

No. S 51

Parliamentary Elections Act 1954

Parliamentary Elections
(Overseas Voting)
(Amendment) Regulations 2025

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 56F of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954, the Prime Minister makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations are the Parliamentary Elections (Overseas Voting) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 and come into operation on 22 January 2025.

New regulation 37A

2. In the Parliamentary Elections (Overseas Voting) Regulations 2024 (G.N. No. S 449/2024), after regulation 37, insert —

“Maximum number of representatives at areas demarcated for counting of overseas votes for specified electoral division

37A.—(1) The Returning Officer may demarcate, within a counting place for overseas votes, an area for the counting of overseas votes cast in respect of a specified electoral division.

(2) Paragraphs (3) to (7) apply if an area is demarcated under paragraph (1) for the counting of overseas votes cast in respect of a specified electoral division.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the following persons may be present within the demarcated area while the overseas votes cast in respect of the specified electoral division are being counted:

(a)	the representatives of a political party that has a candidate or group of candidates (as the case may be) for the specified electoral division;
(b)	the representatives of an independent candidate or a group of independent candidates (as the case may be) for the specified electoral division.

(4) The maximum number of representatives that a political party, an independent candidate or a group of independent candidates may have in the demarcated area is X + 1, where X is the number of Members to be returned for the specified electoral division.

(5) Section 50(3) of the Act does not apply in relation to the rejection of overseas votes counted in the demarcated area.

(6) Before rejecting an overseas vote, the Returning Officer must show it to each representative present in the demarcated area and hear the representative’s views, taking all proper precautions to prevent any person from seeing any number printed on the overseas vote.

(7) In this regulation, “representative” has the meaning given by regulation 34(4).”.

Miscellaneous amendments

3. In the Parliamentary Elections (Overseas Voting) Regulations 2024 —

(a)

in regulation 2, after the definition of “overseas election officer”, insert —

“ “overseas vote” means any vote cast —

(a)	at an overseas polling station; or
(b)	by the postal voting method;”;

(b)

in regulations 31 and 38(2), replace “votes cast by overseas electors” with “overseas votes”;

(c)

in regulations 33(1) and 36(1), replace “votes cast at overseas polling stations and by the postal voting method” with “overseas votes”;

(d)

in regulation 36(2), replace “cast in” with “cast at”; and

(e)

in regulation 37, replace the regulation heading with —

“Sorting of overseas votes”.

Made on 16 January 2025.

LEO YIP

Permanent Secretary,
Prime Minister’s Office,
Singapore.

[ELD(A)/4-24; AG/LEGIS/SL/218/2020/11]

(To be presented to Parliament under section 102B(1) of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954).

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