Elections Department

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The Elections Department on Prinsep Link. Elections Department, Jan 06.JPG
The Elections Department on Prinsep Link.

The Elections Department (ELD) is a department of the government of Singapore under the Prime Minister's Office that oversees the procedure for elections in Singapore, including parliamentary elections and presidential elections. It sees that elections are fairly carried out and has a supervisory role to safeguard against electoral fraud. It has the power to create constituencies and redistrict them, with the justification of preventing malapportionment.

Government of Singapore Executive branch of government made up of the President and the Cabinet of Singapore

The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to mean the Executive branch of government, which is made up of the President and the Cabinet of Singapore. Although the President acts in his/her personal discretion in the exercise of certain functions as a check on the Cabinet and Parliament of Singapore, his/her role is largely ceremonial. It is the Cabinet, composed of the Prime Minister and other Ministers appointed on his/her advice by the President, that generally directs and controls the Government. The Cabinet is formed by the political party that gains a simple majority in each general election.

Prime Ministers Office (Singapore) office of the Prime Minister of Singapore

The Prime Minister's Office is a ministerial level executive agency within the Government of Singapore that handles the ministries and other political matters that are of great importance to the nation, such as corruption and elections. It is headed by the Prime Minister and their top political staff. The PMO is located in the Istana, which is also the official residence and office for the President of Singapore.

Elections in Singapore periodic selection for members of parliament

There are currently two types of elections in Singapore: parliamentary and presidential elections. According to the constitution of Singapore general elections for parliament must be conducted within 3 months of the dissolution of parliament, which has a maximum term of 5 years from the first sitting of parliament, and presidential elections are conducted every 6 years.

Contents

History

The elections department was established under the Chief Secretary's Office in 1947 when Singapore was a British Crown Colony. The department was subsequently placed under the Ministry of Home Affairs, followed by the Deputy Prime Minister's Office, and is currently under the Prime Minister's Office. [1] In 2003, the Department was expanded to include the Registry of Political Donations. [2]

Crown colony, dependent territory or royal colony were dependent territories under the administration of United Kingdom overseas territories that were controlled by the British Government. As such they are examples of dependencies that are under colonial rule. All Crown colonies were renamed "British Dependent Territories" in 1981. Since 2002, Crown colonies have been known officially as British Overseas Territories.

Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore) government ministry of Singapore

The Ministry of Home Affairs is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for national security, public safety, civil defence, border control, and immigration. It is also known as the Home Team. It is headed by the Minister for Home Affairs.

ELD Timeline
YearOffice LocationOperated UnderKey Milestone
1947 Fullerton Building

Fullerton Square

Today's Fullerton Hotel

Colonial Secretary's Office
1948City Council Election
1952
Singapore Improvement Trust Building

Mansoor Street

(expunged)

1953
Fullerton Building

Fullerton Square

Today's Fullerton Hotel

1955 First Legislative Assembly General Election
Chief Secretary's Office
1957
Fort Canning

Fort Canning Rise

(building has been demolished)

1959
Ministry of Home Affairs
1962
Empress Place Building

Empress Place

Today's Asian Civilisations Museum

Deputy Prime Minister's Office
1965
Elections Department Building

Halifax Road

1968 First Parliamentary General Election
Prime Minister's Office
1970
City Hall

St. Andrew Road

Today's National Gallery Singapore

1987
Treasury Building

Shenton Way

Today's Temasek Tower

1993 First Presidential Election
1994
Elections Department Building

Prinsep Link

Responsibilities

Presidential and parliamentary elections

The department is responsible for the preparation and management of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections and any national referendum in Singapore. [1] Although the President of Singapore has the authority to create group representation constituencies (GRC) from several electoral wards, the Elections Department is generally the government authority which advises the President on which constituencies are created, and which constituencies are redistricted.

President of Singapore head of state of the Republic of Singapore

The President of the Republic of Singapore is the country's head of state. Singapore has a parliamentary system of government. Executive authority is exercised by the Cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Singapore. The current president is Halimah Yacob, who was elected unopposed at the 2017 presidential election. She is the first female president of Singapore and first Malay head of state in 47 years since the death of Yusof Ishak, Singapore's first president.

Political Donations Act

The ELD has under its purview the Registry of Political Donations (RPD) since 2003. It is responsible for the administration of the Political Donations Act and campaign spending rules. The main objective of RPD is to prevent foreign funding and potential interference in the domestic politics of Singapore. [3]

Registry of Electors

Between elections, ELD must ensure that the registers of electors are kept up-to-date. Other responsibilities include the training of election officials, logistical management of election events, informing the public about the electoral system and voting processes and ensuring that all electors have access to the electoral system and voting processes.

Other responsibilities

The ELF provides secretariat support to the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee and election committees such as the Presidential Elections Committee and the Community Committee. [1]


ELD is also responsible for:

Organisation

Senior Leadership

The senior members of the Elections Department are:

Policy and Planning

Human Resource

Administration and Finance

Political Donations and Communications

Manpower and Training

Logistics and Technology

Projects

Quality Service

Registry of Political Donations

Controversy

The opposition parties in the politics of Singapore question whether there are true, clear separation of powers between the current ruling party of Singapore, the People's Action Party (PAP), and the Elections Department, which is supposed to be a neutral and impartial entity.

Politics of Singapore Political system of Singapore

The politics of Singapore takes the form of a parliamentary representative democratic republic whereby the President of Singapore is the head of state, the Prime Minister of Singapore is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the cabinet from the parliament, and to a lesser extent, the President. Cabinet has the general direction and control of the Government and is accountable to Parliament. There are three separate branches of government: the legislature, executive and judiciary abiding by the Westminster system.

Separation of powers in Singapore

Separation of powers in Singapore is founded on the concept of constitutionalism, which is itself primarily based upon distrust of power and thus the desirability of limited government. To achieve this, the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore splits the power to govern the country between three branches of government – the legislature, which makes laws; the executive, which executes them; and the judiciary, which enforces them. Each branch, while wielding legitimate power and being protected from external influences, is subjected to a system of checks and balances by the other branches to prevent abuse of power. This Westminster constitutional model was inherited from the British during Singapore's colonial years.

Peoples Action Party Ruling political party in Singapore

The People's Action Party is a major centre-right political party in Singapore.

Singapore Elections Department is a branch under the Prime Minister's Office. The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee is appointed by the Prime Minister; [4] the committee includes a mix of top civil servants and is chaired by the secretary to the Prime Minister. [5] [6] The committee is responsible for the drawing of polling districts and polling sites with pinpoint precision before every election, without the need for Parliamentary approval. [7] Under section 8(1) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, the incumbent Prime Minister may, "from time to time, by notification in the Gazette, specify the names and boundaries of the electoral divisions of Singapore for purposes of elections under this Act". [8]

The absence of an independent electoral commission [9] to manage elections is a subject that has been brought up by many opposition parties. [10] [11] [12] This, the opposition argues, leads to intentional carrying out of gerrymandering on behalf of the PAP, like in the cases of Cheng San GRC and Eunos GRC being redrawn into other constituencies, or single-member-constituencies such as Joo Chiat SMC being absorbed into bigger GRCs after close electoral fights. [13] [14] [15] It is unlike an Electoral Commission in most other Commonwealth countries which is clearly independent of the ruling government. The redrawing of GRCs shortly before each election has been mocked on a widespread basis on social media, [16] satirical and socio-political websites, [17] as well as in theatre. [18] [19]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "About Elections Department". Government of Singapore. Archived from the original on 2017-08-09.
  2. ↑ "ELD | Our Journey". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  3. ↑ "Overview of Political Donations Act". Singapore Elections Department. Archived from the original on 2017-08-09.
  4. ↑ "Lee Hsien Loong". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  5. ↑ "Electoral integrity a hot topic". Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  6. ↑ "Electoral Boundaries Review Committee convened, PM Lee tells Parliament". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  7. ↑ Tan, Netina (2013-12-01). "Manipulating electoral laws in Singapore". Electoral Studies. Special Symposium: The new research agenda on electoral integrity. 32 (4): 632–643. doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2013.07.014.
  8. ↑ "Parliamentary Elections Act (Chapter 218)". Singapore Statutes Online. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  9. ↑ Yeo, Lay Hwee (2002). "Electoral Politics in Singapore" (PDF). Electoral Politics in Southeast and East Asia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2007-03-06. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  10. ↑ "Redrawing of electoral boundaries 'senseless': Workers' Party". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  11. ↑ Burton, John (2006-05-03). "Inequality is centre stage in Singapore's election". Financial Times. ISSN   0307-1766 . Retrieved 2017-08-25.[ permanent dead link ]
  12. ↑ Diplomat, Sally Andrews, The. "'Soft' Repression: The Struggle for Democracy in Singapore". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  13. ↑ Chew, Hui Min (2015-07-24). "Electoral boundaries report 2015: PAP and opposition politicians react to changes". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  14. ↑ Tan, Netina; Grofman, Bernard (2016). "The Electoral Authoritarian's Subtle Toolkit: Evidence from Singapore" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-08-25.
  15. ↑ Ng, Boon Yian (18 October 2001). "Rise of Super GRCs?". Today. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  16. ↑ Wong, Tessa (2015-09-08). "Singapore's elections explained in memes". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  17. ↑ "S'poreans accept GE2015 gerrymandering changes to electoral boundaries". New Nation. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  18. ↑ Tan, Dylan. "Political satire with more than just laughs". The Business Times. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  19. ↑ "Loving Singapore, faults and all". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
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