[Reference] Singapore's Parliamentary Election Act
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Avoidance by conviction ofcandidate
89. The election of a candidate as a Memberis avoided by his conviction for any corrupt or illegal practice.
Application for avoidance ofelection on certain grounds
90. The election of acandidate as a Member shall be declared to be void on an application made to an Election Judge on any of the following grounds which maybe proved to the satisfaction of the Election Judge:
(a)that by reason of general bribery, general treating, or general intimidation, or other misconduct, or other circumstances, whethersimilar to those before enumerated or not, the majority of electors were or may have been prevented from electing the candidate or groupof candidates whom they preferred;
(b)non-compliance with the provisions of this Act relating to elections,if it appears that the election was not conducted in accordance withthe principles laid down in those provisions and that thenon-compliance affected the result of the election;
(c)that a corrupt practice or illegal practice was committed in connection with the election by the candidate or with his knowledgeor consent or by any agent of the candidate;
(d)that the candidate personally engaged a person as his election agent,or as a canvasser or agent, knowing that the person had, within 7years prior to the engagement, been convicted or found guilty of acorrupt practice by a District Court or by the report of an ElectionJudge;
(e) that the candidate was at the time of his election a person disqualified for election as a Member.
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Proceedings in respect ofqualification
91. —(1) Proceedings may beinstituted in the High Court against any person acting or claiming tobe entitled to act as an elected Member of Parliament on the ground of his being disqualified within the meaning of this section for so acting.
(2) Proceedings under subsection(1) on the ground of a person acting as aforesaid shall not be instituted after the expiration of 6 months from the date of the last occasion on which he so acted.
(3) Where in proceedings instituted under this section it is proved that the defendant hasacted as an elected Member of Parliament while disqualified from so acting, then the High Court shall have power —
(a) tomake a declaration to that effect and to declare that the office in which the defendant has acted is vacant;
(b) to grant an injunction restraining the defendant from so acting; and
(c) to make any order which may seem fit as to the costs of the proceedings.
(4)Where in proceedings instituted under this section it is proved that he defendant claims to act as an elected Member of Parliament and is disqualified from so acting, the High Court shall have power to makea declaration to that effect and to declare that the office in which the defendant claims to be entitled to act is vacant, and to grant an injunction restraining him from so acting.
(5) No proceedings shall beinstituted under this section by any person other than a person whopursuant to this Act is an elector for the electoral division forwhich the person against whom proceedings are to be instituted was elected.
(6) For the purposes of thissection, a person shall be deemed to be disqualified for acting as anelected Member of Parliament —
(a)if he is not qualified to be, or is disqualified from being, an elected Member of Parliament or a holder of that office; or
(b)if by reason of resignation or failure to attend meetings of Parliament or for any other reason his seat has become vacant and hehas ceased to be an elected Member of Parliament or to hold that office.
Appointmentand powers of Election Judge
92. —(1) Every application under section 90 shall be heard by the Chief Justiceor by a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the Chief Justice for the purpose.
(2) The Chief Justice or the Judgeso nominated is referred to in this Act as the Election Judge.
(3) Witnesses shall be subpoenaed and sworn in the same manner as nearly as circumstances admit as in atrial by the High Court in the exercise of its original civil jurisdiction and shall be subject to the same penalties for the giving of false evidence.
(4) On the hearing of anapplication under section 90, the Election Judge may, by orderunder his hand, compel the attendance of any person as a witness who appears to him to have been concerned in the election to which the application refers.
(5) Any person refusing to obeythe order of the Election Judge under subsection (4) shall be guilty of contempt of court.
(6) The Election Judge may examineany witness so compelled to attend or any person in court, although the witness is not called and examined by any party to the application.
(7) After the examination of awitness by the Election Judge, the witness may be cross-examined byor on behalf of the applicant and the respondent, or either of them.
(8) TheElection Judge shall be attended on the hearing of an application under section 90 in the same manner as if he were a Judge of the High Court.
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(9) Unless otherwise ordered by the Chief Justice, all interlocutory matters in connection with an application under section 90 maybe dealt with and decided by any Judge of the High Court.
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Whomay make application under section 90
93. Anapplication under section 90 may be made to the Supreme Court by any one or more of the following persons:
(a)some person who voted or had a right to vote at the election to which the application relates;
(b)some person claiming to have had a right to be returned or elected atthe election;
(c)some person alleging himself to have been a candidate at the election.
Relief which may be claimed
94.All or any of the following relief to which the applicant may been titled may be claimed in an application under section 90:
(a) adeclaration that the election is void;
(b) adeclaration that the return of the person elected was undue;
(c) adeclaration that any candidate was duly elected and ought to havebeen returned;
(d) where the seat is claimed for an unsuccessful candidate on the ground that he or the group of candidates to which he belongs had amajority of lawful votes, a scrutiny
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Certificate of Election Judge asto validity of election
95. —(1) At theconclusion of the hearing of an application under section 90,the Election Judge shall determine whether the Member whose return or election is complained of, or any other and what person, was duly returned or elected, or whether the election was void, and shall certify such determination to the President.
(2)Upon the certificate being given under subsection (1), the determination shall be final; and the return shall be confirmed oraltered, or the President shall within one month of the determination, by notice in the Gazette, order the holding of an election in the electoral division concerned, as the case may require, in accordance with the certificate.
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(3) Where the election of any Member for a group representation constituency is determined by the Election Judge under subsection (1)to be void, the election of the other Members for that constituency shall be deemed to be void.
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Reportof Election Judge as to corrupt or illegal practice
96.—(1) At the conclusion of the hearing of an application undersection 90, the Election Judge shall also report in writing tothe President —
(a)whether any corrupt or illegal practice has or has not been proved to have been committed by or with the knowledge and consent of any candidate at the election, or by his agent, and the nature of the corrupt or illegal practice (if any); and
(b)the names and descriptions of all persons (if any) who have been proved at the hearing to have been guilty of any corrupt or illegal practice.
(2)Before any person, not being a party to an application under section 90 nor a candidate on behalf of whom the seat is claimed by such an application, is reported by an Election Judge under this section, the Election Judge shall give the person an opportunity of being heard and of giving and calling evidence to show why he should not be so reported.
(3) When the Election Judgereports that a corrupt or illegal practice has been committed by anyperson, that person shall be subject to the same incapacities as if at the date of the report he had been convicted of that practice.
(4) A person shall be subject tothe same incapacities if he was a candidate at the election and the Election Judge reports that the corrupt or illegal practice was committed with his knowledge and consent or by his agent.
(5) The President shall cause acopy of such report to be published in the Gazette, and it shall be the duty of the Registration Officer forthwith to peruse thereport and forthwith to delete from the registers of electors the name of every person appearing from the report to be in capable of voting at an election.
Time for making application
97.—(1) Subject to this section, every application under section 90 shall be made within 21 days of the date of publication of the result of the election in the Gazette.
(2) An application undersection 90 questioning the return or the election upon theground of a corrupt practice and specifically alleging a payment ofmoney or other act to have been made or done since the date referredto in subsection (1) by the Member whose election is questioned or by an agent of the Member or with the privity of the Member or his election agent in pursuance or in furtherance of the corrupt practice may, so far as respects that corrupt practice, be presented at anytime within 28 days after the date of the payment or act.
(3) An application undersection 90 questioning the return or the election upon anallegation of an illegal practice may, so far as respects that illegal practice, be made within the following time:
(a) atany time before the expiration of 14 days after the date of the publication in the Gazette of the notice required by section 75 as to the election expenses of the Member whose election is questioned; or
(b) ifthe application specifically alleges a payment of money or other actto have been made or done since that date by the Member whose election is questioned or by an agent of the Member or with the privity of the Member or of his election agent in pursuance or in furtherance of the illegal practice alleged in the application, the application may be made at any time within 28 days after the date ofthe payment or other act.
(4) An application under section 90made in due time may, for the purpose of questioning the return or the election upon an allegation of a corrupt or illegal practice, be amended with the leave of aJudge of the High Court within the time within which an application questioning the return or the election upon that ground may be made.
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(5)For the purposes of this section, where there is an authorised excusefor failing to make and transmit the return and statements respecting election expenses, the date of the allowance of the excuse or, if there was a failure in 2 or more particulars and the excuse wasallowed at different times, the date of the allowance of the last excuse, shall be substituted for the date of the publication in the Gazette of the notice mentioned in subsection (3).
