Singapore legislation
Section 11
Section 11
Claims and objections
(1)
Any person who considers that he or she is entitled to have his or her name entered in a register of electors and whose name has been omitted from the register (called in this section the claimant) may apply to the Registration Officer to have his or her name entered in the register.
(2)
Every claim under subsection (1) must be in writing and be in Form 3 in the First Schedule, and must reach the Registration Officer within 2 weeks from the date of publication in the Gazette of the notice of completion of the register.
(2A)
Within 21 days from the expiry of the period of 2 weeks mentioned in subsection (2), the Registration Officer must exhibit notices containing the names and addresses of the claimants (if any) at the place or places in or near the electoral division in which those claimants reside and at the overseas registration centres specified in the notice mentioned in section 10(3).
(2B)
A claim under subsection (1) may be made at an overseas registration centre and be accompanied by the claimant’s application to be registered as an overseas elector made in accordance with section 13A.
(3)
Any person whose name appears in the register for any electoral division may object to the inclusion in the register of his or her own name or the name of any other person appearing in the register or may object to the insertion in the register of the name of any claimant.
(4)
In this section and section 12, every person objecting to the inclusion or insertion of any name in the register is called the objector.
(5)
Every objection to the inclusion of any name in the register must be made in writing and be in Form 4 in the First Schedule, and must reach the Registration Officer within 2 weeks from the date of publication in the Gazette of the notice of completion of the register.
(6)
Every objection to the insertion of the name of any claimant in the register must be made in writing and be in Form 5 in the First Schedule, and must reach the Registration Officer within 6 days from the date on which the notice containing the names of claimants is exhibited under subsection (2A).
(7)
[Deleted by Act 18 of 2005]
(8)
Subject to subsection (9C), the Registration Officer must, as soon as practicable after receiving an objection to the inclusion or insertion of any name in any register, send a notice of the objection to the person in regard to whom objection has been made.
(8A)
The notice of objection must be in Form 6 in the First Schedule.
(9)
The Registration Officer must as soon as practicable hold a public inquiry into all claims and objections which have been duly made, giving not less than 6 clear days’ written notice of the date on which and the time and place at which the inquiry will commence to each claimant, objector and person in regard to whom objection has been made.
(9A)
At any such public inquiry, any person appearing to the Registration Officer to be interested in or affected by the subject matter of the inquiry may appear and be heard either by himself or herself or by any other person duly authorised by him or her in writing in that behalf.
(9B)
Despite subsection (9), the Registration Officer may, without holding any public inquiry —
allow any claim in respect of which no objection is made if the Registration Officer is satisfied that the claim should be allowed, and insert the claimant’s name in the register and, where applicable, register the claimant as an overseas elector; or
reject any claim if the Registration Officer is satisfied that —
the claimant was not a citizen of Singapore on the prescribed date mentioned in section 5(4);
the claimant was below 21 years of age on the prescribed date mentioned in section 5(4); or
where the claimant claims to be entitled to have the claimant’s name entered in the register for an electoral division on the ground of a change in the claimant’s residential address, the new address specified in the claimant’s claim is not the address of any premises in that electoral division.
(9C)
Subsections (8) and (10) do not apply to a claim rejected by the Registration Officer under subsection (9B)(b).
(10)
Subject to subsection (9C), where an objection is made to the inclusion or insertion of any name in the register, the Registration Officer must call upon the objector, or some person authorised in writing in that behalf by the objector, to give prima facie proof of the ground of the objection.
(11)
If such prima facie proof is given, the Registration Officer must require proof of the entitlement of the person in regard to whom objection has been made, and —
if the person’s entitlement is not proved to the Registration Officer’s satisfaction, the Registration Officer must expunge that person’s name from or (as the case may be) refuse to insert that person’s name in the register; or
if the person’s entitlement is so proved, the Registration Officer must retain that person’s name or (as the case may be) insert that person’s name in the register and, where applicable, register that person as an overseas elector.
(12)
If, on the date fixed for inquiry into any objection, the objector or a person authorised in writing in that behalf by the objector fails to appear, or appears but fails to give such prima facie proof, then —
if the objection is to the inclusion in the register of the name of a person appearing in the register, the Registration Officer must retain the person’s name in the register without calling upon the person to prove his or her entitlement; or
if the objection is to the insertion in the register of the name of any claimant, the Registration Officer must require proof of the entitlement of the claimant; and —
if the claimant’s entitlement is not proved to the Registration Officer’s satisfaction, the Registration Officer must refuse to insert the claimant’s name in the register; or
if the claimant’s entitlement is so proved, the Registration Officer must insert the claimant’s name in the register and, where applicable, register the person as an overseas elector.
(13)
If an objection is made and is overruled by the Registration Officer and, in the Registration Officer’s opinion, the objection was made without reasonable cause, the Registration Officer may, if he or she thinks fit, order in writing the objector to pay to the person in regard to whom objection has been made such sum not exceeding $50 as the Registration Officer considers reasonable compensation for any loss of time incurred by the person in consequence of the objection.
(14)
If, upon an objection being overruled, the objector appeals under section 12 to the Revising Officer and the appeal is dismissed, and in the opinion of the Revising Officer the appeal was made without reasonable cause, the Revising Officer may, if he or she thinks fit, order in writing the objector to pay to the person in regard to whom objection has been made such sum not exceeding $50 as the Revising Officer considers reasonable compensation for any loss of time incurred by the person in consequence of the appeal.
(14A)
If any appeal is allowed by the Revising Officer, he or she has power to revise or cancel any order made by the Registration Officer for the payment of compensation by the objector.
(15)
Any sum awarded as compensation under this section is recoverable as though the order of the Registration Officer or Revising Officer were an order of a District Court for the recovery of money by that Officer.