Tag: Polling day

Polling Day: DOs And DON’Ts

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, the Old and the Young, the Retired and the Unemployed, Virgins and Veterans (voters), Smart and Stupid people, alike…

The Singapore General Elections is upon us.

***

Earlier we released a friendly-seriously reminder about Nomination Day Behaviour. Now we present you a seriously-friendly list on Polling Day Etiquette.

Trust us, in this social-media-trigger-happy day and age, some of you are going to need some pointers.

Here are some Dos and Don’ts for 11 SEPTEMBER 2015

SELFIES

We don’t think it’s been banned (yet) but it is discouraged – inside the polling station.

WHY?

It’s not just that your vote is sacred, and the ballot is a secret, yada yada, that we should collectively help to maintain that. It is also illegal to reveal how someone else has voted; a sloppy selfie might lead to that. Plus there are voters and volunteers identity we need to respect… Basically, there’s a potential breach of the law written on the wall, regardless of your intentions. and since this is a seriously friendly list, we just want to do our civic duty and join in the discouragement of SELFIES (and yes, that includes, wefies, and groupies, etc.

Do: If you must, take pics / tweet / be on your smart device outside the polling station before or after you vote.

Don’t: Take pics / tweet / be on your smart device in the Polling Centre.

SOCIAL-MEDIA-ING

Same as above. Keep all these real-time updates and LIVE-blogging you’re bursting to document, to yourself, at least until you’re outside the polling station.

In most countries, it is considered a criminal act to communicate information about the way someone has voted or is about to vote, and specifically to “directly or indirectly induce a voter to display his ballot paper after he has marked it so as to make known to any person the name of the candidate for whom he has or has not voted”.

Don’t anyhow post

Do post responsibly

CHOICE OF CLOTHING

WHY?

Cos it’s not a red carpet and you’re not Bard Pitt, agree? Not only that, voters in inappropriate clothing, like shirts carrying political slogans / tag-lines for example, may be considered intimidating, and disallowed.Voters in hoodies, hats, sunglasses, and capes, headphones, (what, you don’t wear a cape from time to time?)please reconsider. Polling officers need to be able to see your face. This prevents cases of fraud, impersonation, etc.Voters in high-heels, and other uncomfortable footwear,we have two words: your problem. note there might be walking across the school lawns, etc.Voters planning to go topless, send us an image and let’s reassess if the public needs to see that.Don’t: Dress Inappropriately- – you might get stomped! 🙂Do: Dress normally and comfortably – you might get stomped! 🙂

KIDS & FUR-KIDS

First, let’s altogether say: “Awww”

WHY?

Let’s agree, we should not let our kids or pets disrupt the voting process. (folks with guide-dogs please obviously take them.)

If you have a wee-one that needs attention:

Do make arrangements. Perhaps take turns with your spouse, or arrange for a babysitter, instead of getting to the Polling station altogether, only to realise there is a queue, and you have to stand in the sun perhaps, and other unforeseen logistical nightmares that can mess with your voting Zen.

While there may be no other regulations on other animals such as your pet iguana, fish, or your favourite stuffed toy, decisions will be at the discretion of presiding officers, who are likely volunteers and cannot be assumed to be experienced babysitters or animal-lovers, let alone non-allergic, so best not try your luck.

Of course, some of you might want to bring your kids along, to show them how it is done. We hope they are generally welcome, but that will be down to the discretion / prevailing laws. – In any case, if that is the case, by all means go ahead, but please don’t let your child mark the X- it’s your vote after all.

SPECULATION

Do read up on your candidates, constituency beforehand, and form a decision.

Don’t expect a show (or worse, put up one) say start or engage in discussion the merits of different candidates or parties – as it may unsettle other voters.

Don’t ask someone about where there vote is going as this will break the secrecy of the poll.

Don’t distribute party leaflets or other literature in the polling station.

If you want a friendly discussion / debate, do so outside the polling station

OTHERS

Do remind, prepare, inform, and make arrangements to help e.g. the disabled, the aged, those who might be overseas (and have problem getting time-zones right)

LASTLY…

Do vote wisely

Source: https://forsingapore.wordpress.com

September 8, 2015
18 Assembly Centres For Candidates, Supporters, To Gather

After polls close at 8pm on Sep 11, and until 30 minutes after the announcement of the last result, electoral candidates, their supporters and members of the public may gather at 18 designated assembly centres to await the announcement of the results, the police said on Monday (Sep 7).

Permit applications for the assembly centres must be made in person by a candidate or his election agent at the Police Elections Permit Office (PEPO) between 8.30am and 2.30pm on Sep 9 to 10. No fees will be levied by police for the permit. Application forms for the permit can be obtained from the PEPO office and may also be downloaded from the police website at www.spf.gov.sg/elections.

Police have grouped the electoral divisions into three zones. The assembly centre sites available in each zone are:

Contesting parties and independent candidates can only apply for one assembly centre site in each zone that it is contesting in. Where there is more than one applicant for a particular assembly centre site, a ballot will be conducted, police said.

Contesting parties and independent candidates can also apply for a permit to use an indoor site as an assembly centre. The indoor site has to be within the zone that they are contesting in.

The list of assembly centres allocated to contesting parties and independent candidates will be announced on Sep 10, after the close of permit applications.

The Police Elections Permits Office (PEPO) will conduct a briefing on the application procedures for Assembly Centres on Tuesday (Sep 8) at 9am, at Police Cantonment Complex (2nd Level), 391 New Bridge Road, Singapore 088762. Candidates or their Election Agents are invited to attend the briefing, police said.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

September 7, 2015
GE2015: First Time Polling Day Falls On Friday

Polling Day in the coming General Election will be on Sept 11, a Friday.

That has come as a surprise to many because Singaporeans have traditionally gone to the polls on a Saturday.

Only at three GEs since independence in 1965 has Polling Day not fallen on a Saturday.

This happened in the 1976 poll when people went to the ballot box on Dec 23, a Thursday. Then in 1980, the GE was held on Dec 23, a Tuesday. And in 1997, Polling Day on Jan 2 fell on a Thursday.

Even in the three elections before independence in 1965, when Parliament was known as the Legislative Assembly, people cast their votes on Saturdays.

This year’s election – Singapore’s 12th since independence – will also be the first time that a weekday date at the polls has not fallen during the year-end festive period.

GRAPHIC: ELD

The 1976, 1980 and 1997 dates were all either around Christmas and the new year.

In fact, calling a general election during the Christmas period used to be popular.

Three consecutive elections were held during the year’s end – in 1976, 1980 and 1984.

One theory was that people would be in a good mood at that time of the year.

“The stress levels among Singaporeans are lower during year-end, which puts them in a good position to deal with weighty issues the GE might throw up,” Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan told The Straits Times in May.

While Polling Day this year is in September, the feel-good factor from Golden Jubilee celebrations on Aug 7 to 10 could carry over, some say.

The September date also ends the streak of two consecutive Polling Days in May. Singaporeans took to the polls on May 6 in 2006, and on May 7 in 2011.

Interestingly, that was the only time, apart from the hat-trick of December dates mentioned earlier, that successive GEs were held in the same month of the year.

Sept 11 is known to many as the day terrorist attacks by the Al-Qaeda brought down the World Trade Center in New York and damaged the Pentagon in 2001. Associate Professor Alan Chong of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University speculated that the date could provide a backdrop for the ruling People’s Action Party to remind the electorate of global danger, and to vote wisely.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 26, 2015