Papists give themselves a warning for publishing election survey

[Leepotism]

SPH warned for publishing election survey





The Singapore Police Force, acting on the directions of the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC), has issued stern warnings to Singapore Press Holdings and Straits Times Editor Warren Fernandez for publishing a Straits Times poll on the Punggol East by-election in January 2013.

Early voters at the polling station at Bl 11 RivervalDrive. (Photo: Olivia Sion



SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force, acting on the directions of the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC), has issued stern warnings to Singapore Press Holdings and Straits Times Editor Warren Fernandez for publishing a Straits Times poll on the Punggol East by-election in January 2013.

The Straits Times had published an article "ST poll: More rooting for PAP", which contained the results of an election survey, after the Writ of Election for the Punggol East by-election had been issued.

AGC said the publication of the article was the result of Mr Fernandez's negligence.

It is an offence under the Parliamentary Elections Act to publish the results of any election survey during the period beginning with the day the Writ of Election is issued, and ending with the close of all polling stations on polling day.

This is punishable with up to 12 months' jail and/or a fine not exceeding S$1,500.
In a statement, SPH said the Straits Times newsroom cooperated fully with the police during their investigations and accepted that there was an internal lapse that led to the publication of the poll results.

It said that Patrick Daniel, its editor-in-chief of the English and Malay newspapers division, and Mr Fernandez were at the Central Police Division on Thursday morning to receive the written warnings on behalf of SPH and The Straits Times respectively.

 

[I_Hate_Pappies]

SPH, ST editor Warren Fernandez given 'stern warning' for Punggol East exit poll

Singapore Press Holdings and its flagship newspaper The Straits Times chief editor Warren Fernandez were issued stern warnings by the police for an exit poll it conducted in January this year that was against the law.

A statement from the Attorney-General's Chambers issued on Thursday confirmed the action taken — one that comes after months of speculation over whether the poll findings, which were published in an article dated 10 January, violated the Parliamentary Elections Act (PEA).

Three days later, the Elections Department said the police were looking into the matter. Fernandez then explained that the article was "not a full-scale survey, or scientific poll, by any means", adding that the headline had "overstated the significance of the information gathered by calling it a poll".

The article in question gave information detailing which party some 50 residents in Punggol East were planning to vote for.

"While 21 of those polled say they are undecided, those rooting for the People's Action Party outnumbered opposition supporters 19 to 10," said the report.

"The edge that the ruling party appears to hold may be a reflection of the incumbency advantage it has always held in a middle class, traditonally PAP-leading ward," it continued.

The Punggol East Single-Member Constituency by-election that was subsequently held saw the Workers' Party's Lee Li Lian winning the seat with a roughly 10 per cent victory margin.

As it was published after the Writ of Election was issued by President Tony Tan on 9 January, it violated the stipulated blackout period for the publication of any election-related survey results, described in Chapter 218 of the PEA as "during the period beginning with the day the writ of election is issued for an election and ending with the close of all polling stations on polling day at the election".

These police warnings were issued in lieu of public prosecution, which was done in 2011 when Joseph Ong Chor Teck was arrested for conducting an exit poll on the then-Temasek Review Facebook page.

Anyone who is found guilty of conducting an exit poll within the specified time period in the Parliamentary Elections Act is liable to face fines of up to $1,500 or a jail term of up to a year, or both.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/sph--st-ed...ng--for-punggol-east-exit-poll-092431013.html

Got KNNBCCB in the content of the stern warning? :oIo:

 

[halsey02]

Re: SPH, ST editor Warren Fernandez given 'stern warning' for Punggol East exit poll

If they had won, they will praise the exit polls to the highest heavens...."only want to hear only the good things"..

 

[CPT (NS) BRANDON]

Re: SPH, ST editor Warren Fernandez given 'stern warning' for Punggol East exit poll

Maybe they decided to issue a warning to Warren Fernandez because the polls were inaccurate and gave the PAP a false sense of security!

Imagine this scene taking place in the aftermath of the results announcement:

LHL: What the fuck happened? WP won even though it was a four-cornered fight!!! KNN!!!
TCH: I don't know, I can't explain this..
LHL: (Panicking) YOU BETTER EXPLAIN!!!
TCH: All the indications were that we would win! If we knew the voters were against us, I would have offered more carrots, goodies and abalone porridge!
LHL: We could also have temporarily lowered income tax and GST!!
TCH: Yes, but it looked like we would win! Even ST said so!
LHL: ST?? What did they say??
TCH: They polled some people.. 19 said they would vote PAP, 10 said they would vote WP!!
LHL: KNN!! HOW CAN ST GET THEIR FACTS WRONG!!!
TCH: Maybe they published those statistics in order to wayang in front of us! What do you think??
LHL: That is unacceptable!! We need to FIX them!!
TCH: How to fix them?? What do you think??
LHL: Well, I cannot tekan them too badly as SPH is owned by us. So I will just send them a stern warning. Let them wake up their fucking idea.