Prior to Nomination Day, there are other activities that candidates should perform or may conduct.
Once the Writ of Election is issued, every candidate should appoint an election agent to manage and administer his election expenses. A candidate may appoint himself as his election agent. Not more than one individual may be appointed as an election agent at any time.
The appointment of an election agent can be made online via Candidate Services or in writing using the Appointment of Election Agent form by the candidate, and must be made no later than Nomination Day. Additionally, in the case of a Group Representation Constituency (GRC), the candidates in the group of candidates contesting in the GRC must also select from among their respective election agents, one election agent to be the principal election agent for the group. They must inform the Elections Department (ELD) of their choice of principal election agent for the group by submitting the Appointment of Principal Election Agent form to the election officials at the Nomination Centre on Nomination Day.
A candidate may lawfully enter into certain contracts or appoint election staff connected with an election but may not pay amounts due under those contracts except through his appointed election agent.
The candidate’s appointed election agent may authorise his candidate’s political party or an authorised officer of the party to incur expenses up to a specified amount on his candidate’s behalf. In a GRC, the election agent may authorise any number of election agents of other candidates in the same GRC group, as his sub-agents to incur expenses on behalf of his candidate.
A candidate is deemed to have appointed himself as his election agent if the candidate has not appointed a person to be his election agent by Nomination Day.
In the case of a GRC, where election agents are appointed without indicating a principal election agent from among them, the election agent of the candidate whose name is to appear first in the group in the ballot papers will be treated as appointed as the principal election agent of the group. A person must not be appointed as an election agent if he is an undischarged bankrupt or has, within seven years prior to the appointment, been convicted of any Corrupt Practice under the Presidential Elections Act 1991 or the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954.
Even with the appointment of an election agent, the candidate remains responsible for complying with the law in relation to all campaigning activities. The candidate is responsible for his campaigning activities, and it is his duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent the commission of Illegal Practices or Corrupt Practices during election campaigning.
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The duties and responsibilities of an election agent are summarised below:
After close of nomination proceedings
- to declare to the Returning Officer Online Election Advertising that is published in Singapore or non-online election advertising that is published in Singapore by electronic means;
- to lodge a copy of the Traditional Election Advertising (i.e. banner, flag or poster) with the Returning Officer before they are displayed publicly;
- to attend an in-person briefing by the Police Elections Permit Office (PEPO) at 1 pm regarding the application for Police permits, conducted at Level 2 of the Police Cantonment Complex (391 New Bridge Road, Singapore 088762);
- to apply for the relevant permits from the Police, e.g. for election meetings and for the use of perambulating vehicles during the campaign period, as well as for election meetings at assembly centres on the night of counting;
- to issue written authorisations to persons authorised to conduct election activities and/or third parties who undertake election advertising on behalf of the candidate;
- to submit the particulars of persons who have been issued written authorisations, online via Candidate Services;
- to authorise the candidate’s political party or an authorised officer of the party to pay expenses incurred up to a specified amount in respect of the conduct or management of the election campaign of the candidate;
- to appoint and issue letters of appointment to polling agents;
- to appoint and issue letters of appointment to counting agents;
- to keep an accurate account of all expenses incurred and donations received, and all disputed claims and unpaid claims for payment whether these were incurred or received before, during or after the election, in respect of the conduct or management of the election campaign;
- to receive all contributions (whether as gift, loan, advance or deposit) for the candidate’s election expenses and to pay for all such election expenses; and
- to pay all claims for election expenses within the time delimited by law.
Post-election
In addition to the duties and responsibilities mentioned above, the principal election agent is also required:
- to submit the Return Respecting Election Expenses and Declarations by Candidate and Election Agent form to the Returning Officer, within 31 days from the day on which the election result is published in the Government Gazette, online via Candidate Services;
- to submit the Post-Election Disclosure of Reportable Political Donations for Parliamentary Election form to the Registrar, Registry of Political Donations, within 31 days from the day on which the election result is published in the Government Gazette, online via Candidate Services; and
- to disclose to the Registrar, Registry of Political Donations, every reportable arrangement on foreign affiliations to which he is party (including migration benefits granted by or on behalf of a foreign government), from the day he was appointed as election agent of the candidate to the 31st day after the election result is published in the Government Gazette.
Candidates should submit their photographs in conformity with the requirements stipulated by the Returning Officer below for inclusion on the ballot paper. Otherwise, the space on the ballot paper for the candidate’s photograph will state “No photo”.
For Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs), the photographs of the candidates in a group will be placed left to right in the order in which the names of the candidates appear on the ballot paper. If some but not all the candidates in the group submit their photographs, the ballot paper will contain the photographs of those candidates in the group who have submitted their photographs. “No photo” will be indicated in the designated space for the photograph of the remaining candidate(s) in that group.
Candidates are advised to submit their photographs early either online via Candidate Services or in person at the Elections Department after the Writ of Election is issued, but not later than 12.30 pm on Nomination Day.
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The photograph of the candidate must allow voters to recognise the candidate for voting purposes and shall:
- be in black and white;
- be 400 pixels (width) by 514 pixels (height), and the file size should be about 2MB in JPEG format (.jpg extension);
- be in sharp focus and clear with no ink marks or creases;
- have a plain white background or, in the case where the candidate’s hair, hat or head covering is white, a plain light-grey background;
- be taken with uniform lighting and not show any flash reflection or shadow on the candidate’s face or any uneven bright spots or red eyes;
- be taken recently;
- show the candidate alone with no other person visible;
- show the candidate facing the camera, and if the candidate wears glasses or other optical aid, show the candidate with no reflection off the glasses or optical aid;
- show clearly both edges of the candidate’s face and the top of his shoulders;
- not show the candidate wearing any hat or other head covering, other than a hat or other head covering which he habitually wears for religious reasons or due to custom; and if any such hat or other head covering is worn, the photograph must still be a full frontal view of the candidate’s head and shoulders, showing his facial features in its entirety and showing clearly both edges of his face;
- not show the candidate wearing any attire, hat or other covering which bears any symbol which is of any racial or religious significance; and
The photograph should be submitted via the Candidate Services. Alternatively, it may be submitted in softcopy stored in a USB flash drive (not returnable) for submissions in person. The filename of the photograph should be in the format: <NRIC number of candidate> separated by a hyphen <name of candidate>, i.e. S1234567A-Goh Kok Goi.jpg.
Under the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021 (FICA), candidates must disclose to the Registrar, Registry of Political Donations, every reportable arrangement on foreign affiliations to which they are party (including migration benefits granted by or on behalf of a foreign government) during the 12 months before the date the declaration is made.
Candidates will need to make the disclosures online via Candidate Services after the Writ of Election is issued, but not later than two clear days (excluding Sundays and public holidays) before Nomination Day.
Some restrictions (for example the requirement that Online Election Advertising be declared under section 61F of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954) only apply during the campaign period, i.e., only after the close of nomination proceedings on Nomination Day. In addition, relevant licences and permits by regulatory authorities may be required for activities such as walkabouts, house-to-house visits, distributing pamphlets, handouts and newsletters, and publishing of manifestos and prospective candidates’ biographical details. Prospective candidates are to ensure that all activities are conducted within the limits of the law.
To ensure a level playing field, starting when a Writ of election is issued for an election in an electoral division and ending immediately before the start of the campaign period of the election in the electoral division, the public display of any Traditional Election Advertising (TEA) bearing:
- a political party name or symbol (or both); or
- another symbol which can reasonably be regarded as indicating a direct association or an immediate affiliation with the political party,
is banned unless it falls under one of the following circumstances:
- the TEA is part of or otherwise permanently affixed on an exterior wall or window of a building (or part of a building) occupied (or partly occupied) (a) by a political party as its office or (b) by a business or a charitable or other undertaking by a political party, or on an outer wall, fence or other structure or feature marking the boundary of grounds on which that building is located, and is solely for the purpose of (i) indicating that the office of the political party is or is within the building or (ii) identifying the business or the charitable or other undertaking operated or carried on by the political party at or within the building;
- the TEA was lawfully publicly displayed in the electoral division concerned before the start of the election period concerned, has not been relocated, altered or modified since the start of the election period, and is declared to the Returning Officer, within 12 hours after the start of the election period; and
- the TEA is publicly displayed at a public assembly or public procession to show support for a candidate/group of candidates during the delivery of their thank-you speech at the Nomination Centre on Nomination Day.
Political parties are required to declare within 12 hours of the issuance of the Writ of Election, each existing Traditional Election Advertising (TEA) that was lawfully on display prior to the issuance of the Writ, bearing:
- the political party name or symbol (or both); or
- another symbol which can reasonably be regarded as indicating a direct association or an immediate affiliation with the political party.
Ahead of the election, political parties will be informed to submit the particulars of persons whom they authorise to make such declarations to the Elections Department (ELD). Once the Writ of Election is issued, the authorised persons from the political parties will then be granted access to make the declarations via an online portal; and all such declarations will be made available for public viewing at ELD or on its website.
Each declaration must contain:
- the identity particulars of the declarant;
- the political party to which the declarant belongs;
- the email address and mobile number of the declarant;
- a copy, image, detailed diagram or drawing of the TEA that is being declared;
- a description of the location (including the electoral division) where that TEA is displayed, including any particulars of that location that the Returning Officer may require in writing; and
- an image of that TEA displayed at that location.
During the campaign period, these declared TEAs will count towards the maximum quantity of TEAs allowed for a candidate/group of candidates contesting in that electoral division. As such, the declared TEAs should adhere to the conditions stated in the Returning Officer’s permit; and comply with the controls on the quantity, size, location, manner of and period of display for TEA. Declared TEAs that do not comply with the applicable restrictions on TEAs may be removed or covered by any person authorised by the Returning Officer (e.g. ELD’s contractor).
TEAs do not have to be declared if all of the following requirements are satisfied:
- the TEA was lawfully publicly displayed in the electoral division concerned before the start of the election period concerned;
- the TEA is part of or otherwise permanently affixed on an exterior wall or window of a building (or part of a building) occupied (or partly occupied) by a business or a charitable or other undertaking by a political party, or on an outer wall, fence or other structure or feature marking the boundary of grounds on which that building is located; and
- the TEA contains only the name or symbol (or both) of the political party concerned and is solely for the purpose of identifying the business or the charitable or other undertaking operated or carried on by the political party at or within the building.
Some examples include the logo of a political party permanently affixed on the outer wall of the building occupied by the political party; or a logo that has affiliation with a political party permanently affixed at the entrance of a childcare centre or its office operated by the political party (or on an outer wall of a building occupied or partly occupied by the childcare centre or its office) and is solely for the purpose of identifying the childcare centre or its office.
