Presidential Elections Act 1991 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Elections
36. Maintenance of secrecy at elections
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Every officer, clerk, interpreter, candidate and agent authorised to attend at a polling station under section 22(5) or every other person so authorised under regulations made under section 30C(1)(d), or at the counting of the votes, must, before so attending, make an oath of secrecy, substantially in the prescribed form.
candidate
“candidate” means a person who is nominated as a candidate for election to the office of President;
The Returning Officer has power to administer any oaths required to be taken under subsection (1).
Returning Officer
“Returning Officer” means the Returning Officer appointed under section 3;
Every officer, clerk, interpreter, candidate and agent authorised under section 22(5) and every person authorised under regulations made under section 30C(1)(d) in attendance at a polling station must maintain, and aid in maintaining, the secrecy of the voting in the station, and must not communicate, except for some purpose authorised by law, before the poll is closed, to any person any information as to the name or number on the register of electors of any elector who has or has not applied for a ballot paper or voted at that station, or as to the official mark.
polling station
“polling station” means —(a)an ordinary polling station;(b)a special polling station; or(c)an overseas polling station;
The total number of voters who have voted at any polling station at any time before the poll is closed may, in the discretion of the presiding officer, be divulged to the candidate or the candidate’s agent authorised to attend at the polling station.
Every officer, clerk, interpreter, candidate or agent in attendance at a polling station, and every person must not —
attempt to obtain in the polling station information as to the candidate for whom any voter in the station is about to vote or has voted; or
communicate at any time to any person any information obtained in a polling station as to the candidate for whom any voter in the polling station is about to vote or has voted, or as to the number on the back of the ballot paper given to any voter at the polling station.
Every officer, clerk, interpreter, candidate and agent in attendance at the counting of the votes must maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of the voting, and must not —
attempt to ascertain at the counting the number on the back of any ballot paper; or
communicate any information obtained at the counting as to the candidate for whom any vote is given by any particular ballot paper.
No person, except a presiding officer acting for a purpose authorised by this Act or a person authorised by the presiding officer and acting for that purpose, is to communicate or attempt to communicate with any voter after the voter has received a ballot paper and before the voter has placed it in a ballot box, or after the voter has been authorised to use an approved DRE voting machine to record his or her vote and before the voter records his or her vote at the machine, as the case may be.
voter
“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.
Every person who acts in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 9 months or to both.