First established in 1947, 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.
History
The elections department was established under the Chief Secretary's Office in 1947 when Singapore was a British crown colony. After independence in 1965, 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.[2] In 2003, the Department was expanded to include the Registry of Political Donations.[3] In 2021, the department merged its corporate office and training centre into one central location at 11 Novena Rise.[1]
The department is responsible for the preparation and management of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections and any national referendum in Singapore.[2] 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.
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.[4]
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 ELD provides secretariat support to the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee and election committees such as the Presidential Elections Committee and the Community Committee.[2]
ELD is also responsible for:
Training election officials,
Planning for election manpower, premises, logistical and other related requirements for the conduct of elections
Informing the public about the electoral system and voting processes
Ensuring all electors have access to the electoral system and voting processes
Administering the Political Donations Act and campaign spending rules
Reception
Opposition parties such as the Workers Party (WP) and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) in the politics of Singapore has questioned 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. The absence of an independent electoral commission[5] to manage elections is a subject that has been brought up by many opposition parties.[6][7]
The Elections Department is a branch under the Prime Minister's Office. The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee is appointed by the Prime Minister;[8] the committee includes a mix of top civil servants and is chaired by the secretary to the Prime Minister.[9][10] 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.[11] 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".[12]
The redrawing of constituencies shortly before each election are often satirised by Singaporeans on social media,[16] satirical and socio-political websites,[17] as well as in theatre[18][19] especially during election season.
^Yeo, Lay Hwee (2002). "Electoral Politics in Singapore"(PDF). Electoral Politics in Southeast and East Asia. Archived(PDF) from the original on 6 March 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
^Tan, Netina (1 December 2013). "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.
