Improvement to procedures, conditions to void election among changes made to Act
SINGAPORE — A Presidential Election can be declared void if the elected candidate made a materially false or misleading statement of fact, or failed to state a material fact to the Presidential Elections Committee.
Prospective candidates contesting in the election will also have to declare that they understand the role of the President as set out in the Constitution — which includes a President’s constitutional powers and limits — and they should not be making statements or promises which exceed the constitutionally prescribed role, Mr Chan Chun Sing said in Parliament yesterday during a second reading of the Presidential Elections (Amendment) Bill.
If a candidate makes false statements, the Presidential Elections Committee can apply to void an election. “This is because the false statement, or the omission of the material fact, is made to the Presidential Elections Committee, and so it would be the appropriate party to apply to the Election Judge to void an election,” said Mr Chan, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Other amendments that were passed in Parliament yesterday included those to improve election procedures.
For instance, an individual must make a mark in a spot outlined on the ballot papers to indicate his or her vote. The Returning Officer will consider only the marks made within the spot and disregard any marks made outside it.
This will provide more clarity in situations that arose in previous elections, when there were disputes over whether a mark on a candidate’s photo or name should count towards a vote for that individual, Mr Chan said.
In another change, a recount of the votes will automatically be carried out if the winning margin is 2 per cent or less — previously, a recount is carried out if a candidate or his counting agent applies for one given that winning margin.
Apart from these, overseas voters will have two more calendar days after the writ is issued to register as an overseas elector or apply to change the allotted overseas polling station.
Singapore Management University law lecturer Eugene Tan noted that a potential difficulty that may arise from the amendment that allows the Presidential Elections Committee to void an election would be that some people might think that the courts are a more neutral party to make this decision.
Some might also question if there is an avenue to appeal against such decisions, he said.
On the point of ensuring that candidates do not make statements that exceed the prescribed role of the President, National University of Singapore political scientist Bilveer Singh said that in some ways, this cannot always be enforced because people are going to say things that may not always be accepted in a competition. Adding that most will know what the role of an Elected President is, he said that “anyone campaigning for something beyond (that) will merely be shooting himself or herself in his or her own foot”. Siau Ming En
