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Election Advertising Regulations

On 13 August 2001, the Parliament passed the Parliamentary Elections Amendments Bill which set new rules to regulate political campaigning of parliamentary elections on the Internet, and the use of posters and banners. This was followed by the Election Advertising regulations that was passed by Parliament and came into force on 17 October 2001.

Under the new rules on campaigning on the Internet, both political party websites and non-party political websites that promote political parties and candidates during the elections are required to be registered with the Singapore Broadcasting Authority.

The regulation also specify that non-party political websites are not allowed to campaign for any party such as displaying party banners or candidate profiles. It also covers electronic mails and Short Message System (SMS). In all cases, the name and address of the publisher of the election advertising, and for whom and at whose direction the election advertising is published, have to be displayed in accordance to the regulation.

Under the Internet Election Advertising rules, registered political parties are allowed to:

• display party posters and manifesto, candidate profiles and photographs, announcements of party events, party
  position on issues, moderated chats and discussion forums;
• publish any newsletter, journal or other periodical publication of the political party;
• send any message by electronic mail that promotes or opposes a party or candidate;
• host chatrooms and discussion forums, but must appoint moderators during the election to keep logs of all messages and ensure they conform with the law specified in the regulation.

However, no person is allowed to:

• send any statement or matter requesting the recipient of the electronic mail message to forward the advertisement or
  message to any other person;
• conduct electronic surveys during the election period;
• appeal for election funds.

The regulation also prohibits election advertising in all media on the polling day. In the case of posters and banners, no person shall display any posters or banners of election advertising unless he is authorised to do so with a permit and an official stamp issued by the Returning Officer. In addition, no one is allowed to display any poster or banner within 200 metres of any polling station.

Details of the legislation could be found in:
Parliamentary Elections (Amendment No. 2) Bill (Bill no. 29/2001)
Parliamentary Elections (Election Advertising) Regulations 2001 (S 524/2001)



Author
Koh Lay Tin



References
Confusion over internet political advertising. (2001, September 1). The Straits Times, Home, p. 14.

MPs quiz minister on scope of bill. (2001, August 14). The Straits Times, Home, p. 7.

New rules for net polls campaigning. (2001, July 26). The Straits Times, p. 3.

Parties can now take polls battle to cyberspace. (2001, August 14). The Straits Times, p. 1.

Rules on e-campaigning spelt out. (2001, October 18). The Straits Times, p. 3. 

Singapore sets new rules to regulate election campaigning. (2001, August 13). Xinhua News.



The information in this article is valid as at 2001 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Politics and Government>>Law
Political campaigns--Singapore
Elections--Singapore
Law and government>>Political process>>Elections



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