SINGAPORE: The Elections Department (ELD) on Monday (Apr 21) issued campaigning guidelines for Singapore’s upcoming General Election, including instructions on how rallies, house visits and online campaigns should be conducted,
Dates were also announced for Party Political Broadcasts, when eligible political parties get free airtime to share their campaigning messages with voters.
Singaporeans will go to the polls on May 3. Nomination Day falls on Apr 23, with a nine-day campaigning period.
The first Party Political Broadcasts will be aired on Apr 25 and the second on May 1, which is the last day of campaigning.
Political parties that field at least six candidates under a recognised party symbol are eligible to record these broadcasts, said ELD.
They will be shown across six Mediacorp television channels, as well as 13 Mediacorp, SPH and So Drama! Entertainment radio stations.
According to the Infocomm Media Development Authority, the order of the broadcasts will be determined by the number of candidates fielded by the parties, starting with the party fielding the fewest candidates and ending with the party fielding the most.
Parties must deliver their messages in all or any of Singapore’s four official languages - English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. The content must be the same for all language versions.
“The PPBs (Party Political Broadcasts) must comply with all applicable codes of practice for television and radio,” said the ELD.
This includes ensuring the broadcasts refer to race and religion “accurately and in a dignified manner”, it said.
“In addition, the content of PPBs should not be slanted by exclusion of facts or by misleading emphasis, and should not be defamatory or criminal in nature.”
Physical rallies will make a comeback this General Election, a decade after they were last held. There were no physical rallies in the 2020 General Election due to COVID-19 safety measures.
Candidates holding rallies or gatherings at assembly centres must apply for a police permit, said ELD.
Applications can be made on the Singapore Police Force’s website or in person by the candidate or his/her election agent at the Police Elections Permit Office.
Submissions can only be made after nomination proceedings close and must be completed at least one day before the intended date of the rally, by the designated time, said the ELD.
“Candidates have a responsibility to get their supporters to respect the law, and to calm the supporters down should the situation show risk of degenerating into public disorder and to pose safety concerns at election meetings,” it added.
“They should intervene proactively and promptly.”
Candidates do not need a police permit for walkabouts and house visits if they meet certain conditions.
For instance, the walkabouts or visits must be held within the nine-day campaign period, between 7am and 10.30pm.
The candidate, their election agent or anyone authorised by the candidate to conduct election activities must be present.
Additionally, the event must not obstruct any public roads or spaces, cause public disorder, damage properties or cause disruption to residents and activities nearby.
It must also avoid displaying violent, lewd or obscene materials and cannot involve the erection or use of stages.
For the full list of police permit exemption conditions, candidates can refer to Exemption No 8 of the Second Schedule of the Public Order (Exempt Assemblies and Processions) Order 2009.
Candidates can use vehicles to broadcast pre-recorded election messages during the campaign period. However, they must apply for a police permit, which can be done on SPF’s website.
Applications for a permit must be made at least a day before the intended broadcast, by the designated time, said ELD.
Candidates are not allowed to give live speeches or provide public entertainment from these vehicles.
If the vehicles have open decks, no one is allowed on the open deck.
Singaporeans are allowed to put up unpaid online election advertising, except from the start of Cooling-off Day until the end of polling, said ELD. Cooling-off Day falls on May 2.
Online election advertising refers to any material published online or in public chat messaging groups that can reasonably be regarded as intended to promote or prejudice the electoral success or standing of a political party or candidate.
Republishing existing content is also considered to be publishing new online election advertising and is prohibited during this period, said ELD.
This includes sharing, resharing, reposting or boosting existing content.
Publishing digitally generated or manipulated online content that misrepresents a nominated candidate’s speech or actions is prohibited.
Only political parties, candidates and their election agents can put up paid online election advertising, added the department.
Anyone else can only publish such content if they receive written authorisation from a candidate or election agent from Nomination Day.
All paid online election advertising must be declared to Mr Han Kok Juan, the returning officer of the vote, and adhere to published-by requirements.
“This ensures accountability and prevents the use of paid advertisements as a conduit for foreign interference in the election process, or to bypass the election expense limits for candidates,” said ELD.
Under the published-by requirements, the full names of everyone involved in putting out the content - the person who published it, the one who approved the content and the person who directed its publication - must be displayed clearly in the post. This applies to paid and unpaid content.
Paid online election advertising must also include a message or statement indicating that it has been sponsored or paid for, and the full names of those who paid for it.
Singaporeans who are not candidates or election agents are exempted from the published-by requirements if they post unpaid online election advertising in their individual capacity, and not at the direction of others, said ELD.
Foreigners are not allowed to publish or display any election advertising during the election period.
Election surveys and exit polls cannot be published until after Polling Day.
An exit poll is any statement on how voters voted or a forecast on the results, made based on information from voters after they cast their vote.
An election survey is an opinion survey on how voters will vote, their preferences concerning any candidate or any issue with which an identifiable candidate is associated at an election.
This encompasses polls on social media platforms, online forums, messaging services and websites, said ELD.
Reposting the results of an election survey is also not allowed, it added.
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