PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

4.18 p.m.

The Minister for Law and National Development (Mr E. W. Barker): Mr Govindasamy, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The object of this Bill is to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act with a view to enabling the Registration Officer to compile separately for each electoral division fresh registers of electors from the information recorded and kept by the Commissioner of National Registration. These electoral registers will contain the names of all persons who were on the 1st July, 1971, citizens of Singapore, ordinarily resident in Singapore and not less than 21 years of age.

By an amendment to the principal Act, the Bill also requires that the Registration Officer shall, in each year following the year 1971, complete a revision of the registers on or before 31st December in that year, or such later date as the Minister may appoint.

Clause 3 of the Bill seeks to introduce subsection (4) to section 13 of the Parliamentary Elections Act. This new provision empowers the Registration Officer, before certifying any register of electors, to transfer the name of any person who is no longer resident at the address shown in such register to the appropriate register, if such person has notified the Commissioner of National Registration in writing of his change of residence on or before the last day of inspection of the register of electors. This provision will enable electors, at the next general election, to cast their votes at the new electoral division in which they reside, and so avoid the inconvenience of having to travel longer distances to vote at their former electoral divisions.

With a view to obtaining more exact particulars of each candidate, amendments have been made to Form 9 (which is the nomination paper) and to Form 10 (which is the statutory declaration of a person nominated as a candidate for election).

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill.-[Mr Barker].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.