In forceAmended2020 Revised Edition

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Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Elections

56F. Regulations for voting in overseas polling stations and postal voting

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Amended

Last amended by an amending law of 2023.

(1)

Subject to section 102B, the Minister may make regulations modifying the application of any provision of this Act to —

(a)

the conduct of polls in overseas polling stations, including in particular —

(i)

the appointment of presiding officers for overseas polling stations;

(ii)

the procedure on closing of the poll; and

(iii)

the procedure for the safe despatch of the sealed ballot boxes containing the votes cast to the Returning Officer in Singapore; and

(b)

counting (including recounting) of the votes cast at overseas polling stations and by the postal voting method, respectively.

(2)

Unless the contrary intention appears, the regulations made under subsection (1) on the conduct of polls in overseas polling stations extend to acts done or omitted to be done outside Singapore by —

(a)

any Assistant Returning Officer or presiding officer;

(b)

any polling agent or election agent; or

(c)

any citizen of Singapore (whether or not a voter or an elector),in relation to a poll conducted or to be conducted at an overseas polling station.

(3)

Subject to section 102B, the Minister may make regulations relating to the postal voting method for a contested election, including regulations for or in respect of the following matters:

(a)

the period for an overseas elector to make an application for postal voting papers and the form and manner of such application;

(b)

the period and manner for an overseas elector to access, download and print his or her postal ballot paper and return envelope from the prescribed website;

(c)

the appointment of any authorised representative of the Returning Officer for the purposes of receiving return envelopes containing postal ballot papers;

(d)

the procedure for the postal voting method, including any measures that are necessary to ensure the authenticity of any vote;

(e)

the measures to ensure the safe custody of any return envelope received by the Returning Officer in Singapore;

(f)

the form of any application for postal voting papers, a postal ballot paper or return envelope.

(4)

Regulations made under subsection (1) or (3) —

(a)

must not authorise any person to vote —

(i)

more than once at any election in or in respect of the same electoral division in which he or she is registered as an elector;

(ii)

in or in respect of an electoral division other than the electoral division in which he or she is registered as an elector; and

(iii)

in or in respect of more than one electoral division at any general election;

(b)

must provide for a record of every vote cast at a polling station but the vote record must not contain any means of identifying the person who cast the vote; and

(c)

must be consistent with the principles laid down in any provision of the Act that is modified by those regulations.

Terms defined in s 2

election
Defined · s 2
“election” means an election for the purpose of electing a Member of Parliament;
Open s 2
elector
Defined · s 2
“elector” means a person whose name is entered in a register as an elector to vote at an election;
Open s 2
electoral division
Defined · s 2
“electoral division” means an electoral division specified in the notification for the time being in force under section 8;
Open s 2
general election
Defined · s 2
“general election” means a general election of Members after a dissolution of Parliament;
Open s 2
overseas elector
Defined · s 2
“overseas elector” means an elector who is registered under this Act as an overseas elector;
Open s 2
overseas polling station
Defined · s 2
“overseas polling station” means such of the following premises situated outside Singapore as the Returning Officer may approve under section 36A(2) to be an overseas polling station:(a)an embassy, a High Commission, a diplomatic mission, a permanent mission or a consulate of Singapore (or any part of it) in a country or territory outside Singapore;(b)the official residence (or any part of it) of any person who is appointed to hold or act in any of the following offices in a country or territory outside Singapore:(i)an ambassador, a High Commissioner, a Consulate‑General or the head of a diplomatic mission or consulate;(ii)the Permanent Representative; (iii)such other senior diplomatic or consular office as the Minister may prescribe;
Open s 2
polling station
Defined · s 2
“polling station” means any polling station established by or under the authority of the Returning Officer under section 36A for voters to cast their votes at an election, and includes any overseas polling station;
Open s 2
Returning Officer
Defined · s 2
“Returning Officer” means the Returning Officer appointed under section 3;
Open s 2
voter
Defined · s 2
“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.
Open s 2

Report

Read on from s 56G

Part 4

Applications for Avoidance of Election

Read on from Part 4

Part 5

General

Read on from Part 5

Schedules

Read on from Schedules