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[h=2]Empty ballot boxes for PE 2011 found in school storeroom[/h]
August 30th, 2013 |
Author: Editorial
TR Emeritus (TRE) has received a series of photos purportedly of empty ballot
boxes from a concerned anonymous reader.
According to the reader, he found about five of these boxes in a school
storeroom. He took pictures of the boxes with a newspaper dated 22 August 2013,
to show that these boxes were still around as of last week.
He said that the boxes have been moved around within the room many times,
although it is not known who moved them. He added that he has seen the boxes
since last year.
He confirmed that the boxes are unsealed and empty.
The boxes appear to be ballot boxes from the Presidential Election in 2011
(PE2011). They appear to have come from the Electoral Division of Bishan-Toa
Payoh and from 2 polling stations: Guangyang Secondary School and HDB Block 113
Void Deck (from the stickers on the boxes).
A quick online check confirms that these 2 were indeed polling stations for
PE2011 [Link]:
TRE checked with a couple of counting and election agents about what might
have happened here and this is what TRE has gathered.
At the close of polling, the ballot boxes are sent to the designated counting
centre. After the ballot boxes from the polling stations arrive at the counting
centre, the officials will arrange the boxes in rows according to the polling
stations assigned to the counting centre.
Candidates and their counting agents who are present will be invited to check
the boxes to ensure that the seals are intact and that they have not been
tampered with, before counting begins.
After the ballot boxes are opened, the ballot papers are poured onto the
counting table and mixed up ahead of counting.
After all the ballot papers are sorted and counted, they are packed into
bundles of one hundred each. When counting is completed and the results have
been announced, the ballot papers and election materials are then packed into
different boxes labelled “Depository Box”. The candidates or their agents are
then invited to affix their seals on these depository boxes.
At the end, it is these depository boxes with the counted ballot papers which
are stored in the Supreme Court for 6 months before they are destroyed. In the
case of PE2011, all the sealed depository boxes containing ballot papers were
destroyed on 10 March last year. They were destroyed at the Tuas South
Incineration Plant [Link].
So, what about the ballot boxes themselves which are transported from polling
stations to counting centres to be opened and emptied of their contents? This is
where things get a bit murky. The election agents whom TRE spoke to think that
it must be the responsibility of the officials at the counting centres to
properly dispose of the empty ballot boxes so as not to create panic or
confusion if they are found by members of the public.
Noted human rights lawyer M Ravi, whom TRE spoke to, opined that even though
Section 49(9) of the Parliamentary Elections Act (PEA) outlines the procedure to
be complied with at every counting station after the Returning Officer has made
his official declaration, there is no mention made regarding the destruction of
the ballot containers themselves.
As such, M Ravi said: “These pictures, in and of themselves, do not raise
questions of a plausible breach of the rules of the Parliamentary Elections
Act”.
In any case, TRE has written to the Elections Department for their
comments.
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TR Emeritus (TRE) has received a series of photos purportedly of empty ballot
boxes from a concerned anonymous reader.
According to the reader, he found about five of these boxes in a school
storeroom. He took pictures of the boxes with a newspaper dated 22 August 2013,
to show that these boxes were still around as of last week.
He said that the boxes have been moved around within the room many times,
although it is not known who moved them. He added that he has seen the boxes
since last year.
He confirmed that the boxes are unsealed and empty.
(PE2011). They appear to have come from the Electoral Division of Bishan-Toa
Payoh and from 2 polling stations: Guangyang Secondary School and HDB Block 113
Void Deck (from the stickers on the boxes).
A quick online check confirms that these 2 were indeed polling stations for
PE2011 [Link]:
have happened here and this is what TRE has gathered.
At the close of polling, the ballot boxes are sent to the designated counting
centre. After the ballot boxes from the polling stations arrive at the counting
centre, the officials will arrange the boxes in rows according to the polling
stations assigned to the counting centre.
Candidates and their counting agents who are present will be invited to check
the boxes to ensure that the seals are intact and that they have not been
tampered with, before counting begins.
After the ballot boxes are opened, the ballot papers are poured onto the
counting table and mixed up ahead of counting.
After all the ballot papers are sorted and counted, they are packed into
bundles of one hundred each. When counting is completed and the results have
been announced, the ballot papers and election materials are then packed into
different boxes labelled “Depository Box”. The candidates or their agents are
then invited to affix their seals on these depository boxes.
At the end, it is these depository boxes with the counted ballot papers which
are stored in the Supreme Court for 6 months before they are destroyed. In the
case of PE2011, all the sealed depository boxes containing ballot papers were
destroyed on 10 March last year. They were destroyed at the Tuas South
Incineration Plant [Link].
So, what about the ballot boxes themselves which are transported from polling
stations to counting centres to be opened and emptied of their contents? This is
where things get a bit murky. The election agents whom TRE spoke to think that
it must be the responsibility of the officials at the counting centres to
properly dispose of the empty ballot boxes so as not to create panic or
confusion if they are found by members of the public.
Noted human rights lawyer M Ravi, whom TRE spoke to, opined that even though
Section 49(9) of the Parliamentary Elections Act (PEA) outlines the procedure to
be complied with at every counting station after the Returning Officer has made
his official declaration, there is no mention made regarding the destruction of
the ballot containers themselves.
As such, M Ravi said: “These pictures, in and of themselves, do not raise
questions of a plausible breach of the rules of the Parliamentary Elections
Act”.
In any case, TRE has written to the Elections Department for their
comments.
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Rating:
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