Voting rights in Singapore
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The right to vote in Singapore is not explicitly stated in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
's
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
, but the
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
has expressed the view that it may be inferred from the fact that Singapore is a representative democracy and from specific constitutional provisions, including Articles 65 and 66 which set out requirements for the prorogation and dissolution of Parliament and the holding of general elections. Speaking on the matter in
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in 2009, the
Minister for Law The Ministry of Law (MinLaw; ms, Kementerian Undang-Undang; zh, 律政部; ta, சட்ட அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for the advancement in access to justice, the rule of law, the economy ...
,
K. Shanmugam Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam ( ta, காசிவிஸ்வநாதன் சண்முகம்; born 26 March 1959), better known as K. Shanmugam, is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who has been serving as Minister for Law since 2008 ...
, said that the
right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
could not be a mere privilege as this would imply the existence of an institution superior to the body of citizens that is empowered to grant such a privilege, but that no such institution exists in a free country. In 1966 a Constitutional Commission chaired by Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin advocated entrenching the right to vote within the Constitution, but this was not taken up by the Parliament of the day. When this proposal was repeated during the 2009 parliamentary debate, the Government took the view that such entrenchment was unnecessary. In '' Taw Cheng Kong v. Public Prosecutor'' (1998), the High Court suggested on an ''
obiter ''Obiter dictum'' (usually used in the plural, ''obiter dicta'') is a Latin phrase meaning "other things said",''Black's Law Dictionary'', p. 967 (5th ed. 1979). that is, a remark in a legal opinion that is "said in passing" by any judge or arbi ...
'' basis that voting is a privilege rather than a right. It has been suggested by law academic
Thio Li-ann Thio Li-ann (born 10 March 1968) is a Singaporean law professor at the National University of Singapore. She was educated at the University of Oxford, Harvard Law School and the University of Cambridge. In January 2007, she was appointed a ...
that, if called upon to decide the issue, the court might infer the existence of the right to vote in the Constitution from its text and structure, and from the fact that it is an adaptation of the Westminster system of democracy. If the right to vote were to be found to be implicit in the Constitution, the
judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
would be better able to protect the right when issues arise before the courts. The Parliamentary Elections Act and Presidential Elections Act regulate the exercise of the vote and set out the procedures for
parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
and presidential elections in Singapore. These are ordinary statutes which can be changed by a simple majority in Parliament. All Singapore citizens not less than 21 years old on the cut-off date for the registration of electors (1 January of a particular year), and ordinarily resident in the country, are entitled to vote in both parliamentary and presidential elections. A one person, one vote system is currently in operation, though in 1994
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and former
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Lee Kuan Yew suggested that people aged between 35 and 60 who were married with children should be given two votes each due to their greater responsibilities and contributions to society.
Overseas voting The right of expatriates to vote in elections in their country of origin varies depending on the legislation of an expatriate's country of origin. Some countries (such as France) grant their expatriate citizens unlimited voting rights, identical to ...
was introduced in 2001, and first carried out during the 2006 general election. A person is disqualified from voting in certain circumstances, which include engaging in acts incompatible with being a Singapore citizen, being of unsound mind, or being in prison for committing a criminal offence. The constitutionality of the statutory provisions denying prisoners the right to vote has not yet become an issue in Singapore, though it has been controversial in some foreign jurisdictions.


Introduction

The
right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
forms the foundation of representative democracy, that is,
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
based on the principle of citizens electing a group of people to represent their interests. The various models of government that fall under the general term "representative democracy", namely, the protective, participatory and elite models, are all based upon the underlying principle of equality of rights, including the right to vote. "Popular government" was referred to by
John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
as "where the supreme controlling power ... is vested in the entire aggregate of the community", while
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
argued that it has the desirable consequence of establishing a government that has a unified public interest, with its citizens absent of personal prejudices except for that of the public good. The right to vote then provides the means for individuals to voice their support of or opposition to government. Their aggregated choices enable the will of the people to control the extent of power and perpetuity of governments, thus protecting society's rights and interests.
Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
, one of the
Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...
, said that the right to vote is critical in the protection of individual freedoms. He called it one of an individual's personal rights, which are "a species of property of the most sacred kind", and expressed the view that " take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, ... subject to the will of another ... disfranchise any class of men is as criminal as the proposal to take away property". Paine's view was that there is no justification for one part of a community to deny another its right to vote on any basis, whether class, race, religion or political creed. His view survives in various international instruments such as Article 21(1) of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...
. In the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case ''
Reynolds v. Sims ''Reynolds v. Sims'', 377 U.S. 533 (1964), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that the electoral districts of state legislative chambers must be roughly equal in population. Along with ''Baker v. Carr'' (196 ...
'' (1964), Chief Justice
Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presided over a major shift in American constitution ...
wrote: The term '' representative democracy'' does not appear in the Constitution of Singapore. However, an analogy may be drawn from the approach taken by the
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to the
Australian Constitution The Constitution of Australia (or Australian Constitution) is a constitutional document that is supreme law in Australia. It establishes Australia as a federation under a constitutional monarchy and outlines the structure and powers of the ...
. In '' Lange v. Australian Broadcasting Corporation'' (1997), the Court inferred that the Constitution embodies a system of representative and
responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...
from various provisions, including those requiring periodic elections to choose the members of the
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and the House of Representatives. Similarly, the Singapore Constitution prescribes that
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
may be dissolved by the
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under certain conditions, and will be automatically dissolved by
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five years from its first sitting. A
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
must be held within three months after each dissolution of Parliament. The Constitution also states that " e President shall be elected by the citizens of Singapore in accordance with any law made by the Legislature", and requires a poll for the election to be held not more than three months before the incumbent's term of office expires, or, if the office is vacated before the expiry date, within six months of the date when it becomes vacant. In addition, in the Proclamation of Singapore contained in the Independence of Singapore Agreement, which was entered into by the Governments of Malaysia and
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
to effect Singapore's separation from Malaysia, the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew proclaimed on behalf of the people and the Government that as from 9 August 1965 "Singapore shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation ...".


Status of the right


Judicial view

In '' Taw Cheng Kong v. Public Prosecutor'' (1998), the High Court expressed the ''
obiter ''Obiter dictum'' (usually used in the plural, ''obiter dicta'') is a Latin phrase meaning "other things said",''Black's Law Dictionary'', p. 967 (5th ed. 1979). that is, a remark in a legal opinion that is "said in passing" by any judge or arbi ...
'' view that the right to vote does not have constitutional status but is a privilege:


Government's view

The juridical status of the right to vote was subsequently debated in Parliament on 16 May 2001 upon an adjournment
motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...
introduced by Non-constituency Member of Parliament
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam ( ta, ஜோசுவா பெஞ்சமின் ஜெயரத்தினம்; 5 January 1926 – 30 September 2008), better known as J. B. Jeyaretnam or by his initials JBJ, was a Singaporean politician, law ...
. Jeyaretnam argued that since "the marking of a ballot paper is an expression of the voter", the right to vote is protected by the freedom of expression clause set out in
Article 14 of the Constitution of Singapore Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, specifically Article 14(1), guarantees to Singapore citizens the rights to freedom of speech and expression, peaceful assembly without arms, and association. However, the enjoyment o ...
. Responding, the
Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
, Wong Kan Seng, stated: The heading of section 38 of the Parliamentary Elections Act ("PEA"). is "Registers of electors to be conclusive evidence of right to vote". Subsection (1) provides that the current register of electors is conclusive evidence for determining whether a person is entitled to vote at an election, and subsection (2) states that a person's "right and duty of voting" is not prejudiced if there is an appeal pending as to whether his or her name is properly on the register. The status of the right to vote was again considered in Parliament in 2009. During debates on the Ministry of Law's annual budget on 12 February,
Nominated Member of Parliament A Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) is a member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed by the president. They are not affiliated to any political party and do not represent any constituency. There are currently nine NMPs in the Parl ...
Thio Li-ann Thio Li-ann (born 10 March 1968) is a Singaporean law professor at the National University of Singapore. She was educated at the University of Oxford, Harvard Law School and the University of Cambridge. In January 2007, she was appointed a ...
asked if the right to vote is "a constitutional right and part of the fundamental law of the land, or merely a statutory right, regulated by ordinary law?". Replying to Thio the following day, Minister for Law
K. Shanmugam Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam ( ta, காசிவிஸ்வநாதன் சண்முகம்; born 26 March 1959), better known as K. Shanmugam, is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who has been serving as Minister for Law since 2008 ...
referred to the 2001 debate on the matter and confirmed that, having conferred with the Attorney-General, in the
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
's view the right to vote is an implied constitutional right arising from various provisions of the Constitution, including Articles 65 and 66.. Article 65 sets out the requirements for the prorogation and dissolution of Parliament. Articles 65(2) to 65(3A) explain when the Prime Minister may dissolve Parliament, while Article 65(4) specifically provides that Parliament has a fixed term: "Parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for 5 years from the date of its first sitting and shall then stand dissolved." Article 66 states: "There shall be a general election at such time, within 3 months after every dissolution of Parliament, as the
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shall, by Proclamation in the Gazette, appoint." The Minister also said: As regards the High Court's view in ''Taw Cheng Kong'', the Minister noted that it could not be treated as a
precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...
since " e legal nature of the citizens' right to vote was not an issue in that case and was not specifically argued". Thio Li-ann has commented that the Minister's clarification "dealt the ''quietus est'' to the High Court's odd pronouncement in ''Taw Cheng Kong v. Public Prosecutor''".. ''Quietus est'' means "he is discharged": .


Proposals to express the right in the Constitution


1966 Constitutional Commission

On 18 January 1966, shortly after Singapore's independence, the President appointed a Constitutional Commission led by Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin to consider how the rights of racial, linguistic, and religious minorities in the nascent nation should be protected. In its report on 27 August 1966, the Commission recommended entrenching the right to vote as a "fundamental right" in the form of "the right to elect a government of their choice as expressed in general elections held at reasonable periodic intervals by secret vote".''Report of the Constitutional Commission, 1966'', para. 43. The chief justification for this proposal was the relatively infant or immature culture of democracy in a newly independent nation that was "barely one year old".Thio, "Westminster Constitutions and Implied Fundamental Rights", p. 410. The report noted that citizens had only exercised the right to vote twice in general elections, in
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
and
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
respectively. Hence: However, Parliament decided not to entrench the right to vote, instead relegating voting rights to statutory regulation under the Parliamentary Elections Act.


2009 parliamentary debate

During the 2009 parliamentary debate on the right to vote's status, Thio Li-ann proposed that, to avoid doubt, the right should be specifically set out in the Constitution. She argued that entrenching the right to vote through an Article in the Constitution would provide the opportunity to protect the details of the right. Currently, voting is regulated by the PEA. As it is an ordinary statute, it can be altered with a simple parliamentary majority by future governments seeking to amend or restrict voting rights. Thio said that expressing the right to vote clearly in the Constitution would allow aspects of that right such as voter secrecy and the universality and equality of votes to be protected from unjust manipulation. However, the Minister for Law said the Government was of the opinion that as the right to vote is an implied right in the Constitution, it was unnecessary for the Constitution to be amended to expressly mention the right. Articles 65 and 66 of the Constitution would be entrenched once Article 5(2A) is brought into force. That Article, which has remained in abeyance since it was introduced in 1991, provides that a
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
that seeks to amend, among other things, Article 65 or 66, must be supported at a national
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
by not less than two-thirds of the votes cast, unless the President consents to the amendment. Shanmugam went on to state that the concerns of the 1966 Constitutional Commission were now moot, as Singapore had since experienced ten general elections with a 95% voter turnout each time. Therefore, it could be assumed that the idea and experience of voting were deeply ingrained in Singaporean voters. Furthermore, some countries choose to draft their constitutions in great detail while others, like Singapore, set out a basic philosophy. He noted that countries such as North Korea and Myanmar were among those that had set out the right to vote within their constitutions. Shanmugam concluded that what was fundamental to protecting the right to vote was a Government committed to the
rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
. Following the parliamentary debate, in a 2009 article Thio elaborated that entrenching the right to vote in the Constitution would make it significantly more difficult for any corrupt government that came into power to curtail it, as a super-majority of at least two-thirds of all elected Members of Parliament would be needed before a constitutional amendment could be made. Otherwise, with control over a simple majority of Parliament, a ruling party, if it chose to, could direct amendments to the PEA or create new legislation to provide some citizens with, say, double the number of votes and protect this from constitutional challenge using a notwithstanding clause (that is, a provision stated to have legal effect despite the existence of other inconsistent laws). By not protecting such an important right, the freedom of Singapore's electoral system could be progressively curtailed.Thio, "Westminster Constitutions and Implied Fundamental Rights", pp. 425–426. A similar point has been made by
Singapore Management University The Singapore Management University (SMU) is a public autonomous university in Singapore. The university is the only city campus in Singapore. It ranks third in Asia as a specialist university, behind Hong Kong University of Science and Techn ...
constitutional law professor Jack Lee who noted that since Article 66 does not define the term ''general election'': Thio also argued that without a constitutionally expressed right to vote, the judiciary is handicapped in interpreting this implied right, given its conservative approach to reading the Constitution and the fact that it is unlikely to appeal to normative ideas such as representative democracy.


Judicial implication of the right in the Constitution

Despite the Government's unequivocal view that the right to vote is an implied constitutional right, in Singapore it is the courts that ultimately determine the meaning of the Constitution. Thio Li-ann has suggested that since the right's status is not likely to be brought before the courts in a dispute, the
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
should refer the matter to the
Constitution of the Republic of Singapore Tribunal The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore Tribunal was established in 1994 pursuant to Article 100 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. Article 100 provides a mechanism for the President of Singapore, acting on the advice of t ...
pursuant to Article 100 of the Constitution for an authoritative opinion. Thio has argued that a court convened to determine whether the right to vote exists in the Constitution would give serious weight to the Minister of Law's pronouncements on the status of the right, as to agree with it would affirm rather than challenge executive or legislative power. Also, section 9A of the Interpretation Act requires a
purposive interpretation The purposive approach (sometimes referred to as purposivism, purposive construction, purposive interpretation, or the modern principle in construction) is an approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation under which common law courts i ...
of written law, including the Constitution, to "promote the purpose or object underlying the written law". Sections 9A(3)(c) and (d) identify ministerial speeches made at the second readings of bills or "any relevant material in any official record of debates in Parliament" as appropriate aspects of the interpretive matrix. The court might then take one or both of the following approaches.


Originalist interpretation

The courts may choose to establish an imputed intention or traditional understanding of the existence of a right to vote, derived from the drafting style associated with the drafters of
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
constitutions rather than the drafted text as it is. Thio has said that the framers of the Constitution worked with certain assumptions which they did not make explicit. In ''Hinds v. The Queen'' (1975), the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
said that:''Hinds'', p. 212. The court in ''Hinds'' held that, as "a rule of construction applicable to constitutional instruments" adopting the Westminster system, the "absence of express words" did not prevent the judicial powers of the new state being exclusively exercised by the judicature". Similarly, the right to vote was necessarily implied into the Constitution through its genesis as an adaptation of the Westminster system of democracy.


Interpretation based on text and structure

Thio has also argued that the courts may find that an implied right to vote can be derived from the existing structure of the Constitution and a purposive reading of Articles 65 and 66. According to this reading, a constitutional right to vote must be logically or practically necessary for preserving the integrity of that structure, as constitutionally established. In Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution, the appointment of the Prime Minister requires that he commands "the confidence of the majority of the Members of Parliament". As the Constitution places emphasis on the need for democratic legitimacy as well as general elections, it may be reasonable to infer that the structure of the Constitution provides for a right to vote as a fundamental instrument of democratic legitimacy.


Exercise of the vote

The Parliamentary Elections Act regulates the exercise of the vote and sets out the procedures for
parliamentary elections in Singapore General elections in Singapore must be held within three months after five years have elapsed from the date of the first sitting of a particular Parliament of Singapore, as per the Constitution. However, Parliament can also be dissolved and a ...
. The right to vote in Singapore extends only to Singapore citizens who are ordinarily resident in Singapore and not less than 21 years old on the cut-off date for the registration of electors. This is known as the "prescribed date", and is currently 1 January of a particular year. A person is considered to be ordinarily resident in Singapore on 1 January in a year if he or she has lived in the country for a total of 30 days during the three years immediately before that date, even if on 1 January the person is not resident in the country. Whether people are entitled to vote at a
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...
also depends on whether they are entitled to have their names entered or retained in a register of electors maintained under the PEA., s. 21. Singapore has a one person, one vote system: plural voting – that is, voting more than once in the electoral division that one is assigned to, or voting in more than one electoral division – is illegal.PEA, s. 7. Following a relative swing in votes against the ruling People's Action Party government in the general election of 1984, the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew raised the possibility of modifications to the one person, one vote system and said: "It is necessary to try and put some safeguards into the way in which people use their votes to bargain, coerce, to push, to jostle and get what they want without running the risk of losing the services of the government, because one day, by mistake, they will lose the services of the government." Subsequently, in an interview to the US magazine ''
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...
'' in January 1994, Lee, now
Senior Minister Senior Minister is a political title. It may refer to: * Senior Minister of Canada, a political office in the Cabinet of Canada **Senior Minister, a ceremonial position before the title Deputy Prime Minister was introduced in 1977 * Senior Minister ...
, suggested that a person between the ages of 40 and 60 with a family should be given two votes because "he is likely to be more careful, voting also for his children. He is more likely to vote in a serious way than a capricious young man under 30. But we haven't found it necessary yet. If it became necessary, we should do it. ... I'm not intellectually convinced that one-man, one-vote is the best. We practise it because that's what the British bequeathed us and we haven't really found a need to challenge that." In a later media interview published in ''
The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...
'' on 8 May 1994, Lee said:. Lee suggested that such a change should perhaps be implemented "in 15 to 20 years" if Singapore's
birth rate The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
had not increased, as policies might then be disproportionately influenced by people aged 60 and over. However, he emphasized that these were his personal views and had not been discussed by the Cabinet. To date, no such modification to the voting system has been made.


Overseas voting

Prior to May 2001, voters who were overseas on polling day could not vote. Operational concerns such as insufficient Singapore missions around the world, the possibility that the last known addresses of Singapore citizens overseas might not be current, and the difficulty of keeping track of citizens who were abroad, were cited for this restriction. Some commentators took the view that such logistical issues should not deprive Singaporeans of their "sacred right to vote". Overseas voting was eventually introduced for both parliamentary and presidential elections with effect from 15 May 2001. Speaking during the Second Reading of the bill that led to the change in the law, the Minister for Home Affairs, Wong Kan Seng, said that the Government recognized that increasing numbers of Singaporeans studied and worked abroad due to
economic globalization Economic globalization is one of the three main dimensions of globalization commonly found in academic literature, with the two others being political globalization and cultural globalization, as well as the general term of globalization. Econom ...
. Thus, it had decided to introduce overseas voting on a small scale at the next general elections. At that time, the law generally required overseas voters to have resided in Singapore for an aggregate of two years during the five-year period before the prescribed date. However, Singaporeans whom the Government had posted abroad were exempted from this requirement and so were their families. The Minister explained that this requirement for residence in Singapore was a "necessary pre-condition to constituency representation and to prevent plural voting". J.B. Jeyaretnam criticized this restriction as discriminating against overseas voters.Jeyaretnam, "Is Voting a Privilege or a Right?" (16 May 2001), col. 1722. However, following the terrorist attacks that occurred in the United States on 11 September 2001 and American military action in Afghanistan on 7 October, the Government decided to temporarily suspend overseas voting at the 2001 general election as having large numbers of Singaporeans congregating at known locations at known times could put them at risk of further terrorist attacks. Therefore, overseas voting first took place at the 2006 general election. The number of Singapore citizens who registered to vote overseas was 1,017, and of these, 553 resided in the 16 constituencies that were contested in the election. Eventually, 335 electors voted at eight polling stations around the world. With effect from 3 March 2009, the residence requirement for overseas voters was reduced to an aggregate of 30 days during the three years immediately before the prescribed date, and the special dispensation of the requirement applying to citizens working or studying abroad at the Government's direction and their families was removed. The change was described in Parliament as a measure to "allow more overseas Singaporeans to vote. All an overseas Singaporean needs to do is to come home for 10 days a year to visit his family and friends."


Limitations on voting

A person is disqualified from voting in the following situations, which include engaging in acts incompatible with being a Singapore citizen, being of unsound mind, or being in prison for committing a criminal offence: *Acts incompatible with Singapore citizenship. **Applying for or acquiring citizenship of another country. **Voluntarily claiming or exercising rights in a country outside Singapore, such rights being given exclusively to nationals of that country. **Taking an
oath of allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...
to any foreign power. **Applying to another country for a passport of that country. **Being a serving member of any foreign armed force, unless the person is domiciled in Singapore. *Being of unsound mind. **Being found to be of unsound mind. *Commission of a criminal offence. **Being in prison in any country for an offence punishable with imprisonment for at least 12 months, being under sentence of death, or having been accused or convicted of an offence punishable with at least 12 months' imprisonment and having a
warrant of arrest An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a ju ...
relating to the offence in force. **Having been convicted of a corrupt or illegal practice under the PEA or the Presidential Elections Act, or disenfranchised due to a report by an election judge. Voting in an electoral division that one is not assigned to, or engaging in plural voting amounts to an illegal practice. *Removal from register of electors. **Having had his or her name removed from the register of electors, and not having had it restored.


Voting in foreign elections

Singapore citizens who vote in foreign countries may lose their right to vote in Singapore. The relevant provisions are section 6(1)(a)(ii) read with section 6(3) of the PEA: One issue that has arisen is whether a Singaporean who votes in a foreign country where the right to vote is not exclusive to nationals of that country is disqualified from voting in a Singapore election. For instance, the United Kingdom permits citizens of
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
countries, including Singapore, who are resident in the UK and have leave to remain there (or do not require such leave) to register to vote in general elections and
local government elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
. When queried, the Elections Department stated that since suffrage in the UK is not exclusive to British citizens, Singaporeans who vote there are still eligible to vote in Singapore. However, this interpretation of the PEA has not been tested in court.


Voting by prisoners

Another potentially controversial provision is section 6(1)(b) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, which denies suffrage to convicted criminals serving jail sentences. The provision states: In addition, section 6(1A) provides as follows: The issue of the constitutionality of this restriction has not yet arisen in any Singapore court, but during a Parliamentary debate in May 2001, Non-constituency Member of Parliament J.B. Jeyaretnam challenged the provision as unconstitutional. The Singapore position may be compared with the situation in other jurisdictions. In Malaysia, the right to vote is entrenched in Article 119 of the Federal Constitution, but suffrage is similarly denied to those serving prison terms. In ''Yazid bin Sufaat v. Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya Malaysia'' (2009), it was held that while detainees under the
Internal Security Act 1960 The Internal Security Act 1960 ( ms, Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri 1960, abbreviated ISA) was a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. The legislation was enacted after the Federation of Malaya gained independence from Britain in 1957 ...
 – who have not been convicted of any crime – still enjoy the right to vote in national elections, that right may only be exercised only in the constituencies they are registered in, and does not extend to allowing them to vote while incarcerated elsewhere. A survey of European countries reported in '' Hirst v. United Kingdom (No. 2)'' (2005), a judgment of the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
, found that 18 states allowed prisoners to vote without restriction (Albania, Azerbaijan, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine), while in 13 states all prisoners were not allowed to vote (Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey and the United Kingdom). In another 13 states, the right to vote could be restricted in some way (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Latvia and Liechtenstein). In ''Hirst'', the
UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...
's denial of the vote to prisoners was ruled contrary to Protocol 1, Article 3, of the
European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
, which protects the right to regular, free and fair elections. The European Court said that the UK had to justify any deviation from universal suffrage, but the UK Government has so far desisted from applying the judgment after the House of Commons voted on 10 February 2012 to maintain the country's blanket ban on voting by prisoners. In Canada, the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
held in ''
Sauvé v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer) Sauvé may refer to: People * Arthur Sauvé (1874–1944) * Bob Sauvé (born 1955), Canadian ice hockey player * Christopher Lee Sauvé (born 1979), Canadian pop artist * Clément Sauvé, Canadian comic book artist * Craig Sauvé (born 1981), C ...
'' (2002), that a statutory provision prohibiting prisoners serving a sentence of two years or more from voting unjustifiably infringed the fundamental right to vote guaranteed by section 3 of the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...
. The Court noted that the
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
could not demonstrate how denying prisoners the vote helped the stated aims of the relevant statute; a democracy built on inclusiveness, democracy and citizen participation cannot be party to a law that disenfranchises a considerable part of the population. There was also no credible theory why prisoners should be denied the right to vote as a form of punishment, as it is arbitrary and not related to the offender's criminal act nor does it deter crime or rehabilitate criminals. The foregoing cases may be contrasted with the position in the United States. The
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
held in ''
Richardson v. Ramirez ''Richardson v. Ramirez'', 418 U.S. 24 (1974), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held, 6–3, that convicted felons could be barred from voting without violating the Fourteenth Amendment to the C ...
'' (1974) that a California statute permanently removing the right to vote from any person convicted of an "infamous crime" unless the right to vote was restored by court order or executive pardon did not violate the
Equal Protection Clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...
of the Fourteenth Amendment to the
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
. The Court noted that there was explicit constitutional approval for laws
disenfranchising Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...
felons A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resul ...
since section 2 of the Amendment reduced a state's representation in
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
if the state has denied the right to vote for any reason "except for participation in rebellion, or other crime". Thus, it was unnecessary for the statute in question to be narrowly tailored to serve compelling state interests to be consistent with equal protection.''Richardson'', pp. 54–56.


See also

*
Elections in Singapore 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 three months of the dissolution of Parlia ...
*
Parliamentary elections in Singapore General elections in Singapore must be held within three months after five years have elapsed from the date of the first sitting of a particular Parliament of Singapore, as per the Constitution. However, Parliament can also be dissolved and a ...
* Presidential elections in Singapore


Notes


References

*. *. * ("PEA"). *.


Further reading


Articles

*. *. *. *.


Books

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External links

* {{Good article Democratic rights Election law in Singapore Human rights in Singapore