Parliamentary Question: Discovery of Empty Ballot Boxes (Pritam Singh) – 16 September 2013

Mr Pritam Singh asked the Prime Minister in light of the discovery of used election ballot boxes that were not disposed of in a proper manner (a) who was responsible for the lapse and what action has been taken against the person; (b) whether these boxes were for the 2011 presidential election and, if so, whether there was any breach of section 37 of the Presidential Elections Act; (c) whether there were any other ballot boxes or presidential election paraphernalia that were similarly mishandled in the course of the presidential election; and (d) what role does the Elections Department play in ensuring that such episodes do not occur and what oversight responsibilities does the Elections Department have over their appointed contractors.

The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Chan Chun Sing) (for the Prime Minister): Mdm Speaker, I understand that Mr Alex Yam had also filed a similar question for a subsequent sitting.

Let me first assure Members of the House that the discovery of used empty “ballot” boxes does not constitute a lapse in the election procedures that ensure the integrity of the election process. There is a rigorous process to ensure security of the vote and voting secrecy at each election. There is no break in the chain of custody of ballot papers from the polling station to the counting centre, and from the counting centre to the Supreme Court where the ballot papers are retained in safe custody for six months and then subsequently destroyed. For transparency, the process is open to observation by candidates and their agents who are present.

Ballot boxes are boxes so designated and used for the deposit of ballots cast in an election on Polling Day. These boxes are marked and are shown to be empty to candidates and their polling agents who are present before they are sealed by election officials at the polling station before the start of the polls on Polling Day. These boxes are treated from this point as controlled items for use for the casting of ballots. After the polls have closed, election officials at the polling station seal these ballot boxes containing the ballot papers which have been cast. Candidates and their polling agents who are present witness the process and may also place their own seals on the ballot boxes. The sealed ballot boxes carried by the election officials are then transported under Police escort to the counting centre. A police officer is on board the bus used and stands guard over the ballot boxes throughout the journey.

At the counting centre, before the ballot boxes are opened, candidates and their counting agents who are present may inspect all the boxes again to ascertain that all the boxes are accounted for, and that no others are present; and that the seals of all the ballot boxes are intact and have not been tampered with. The seals are then broken and ballot boxes are opened, and the ballot papers therein are poured out, sorted and counted. The emptied ballot boxes are ascertained in the presence of all to be empty and cease to be a controlled item and are put aside with other discarded material to be later collected by the Elections Department’s contractor for general disposal.

After the election result has been announced by the Returning Officer, the ballot papers and other official documents used in the election are placed into separate boxes and sealed, witnessed by candidates and their counting agents who are present, who may also place their own seals on these boxes. These boxes are then conveyed by Police escort and retained in safe custody for six months at the Supreme Court. After six months, they are destroyed by incineration, unless directed by order of the President.

The empty ballot boxes set aside at the counting centres, along with other paraphernalia like disused writing material, emergency lanterns and any other equipment and leftover general items are supposed to be collected by a contractor appointed by the Elections Department from the counting centres the day after Polling Day. In the event that the contractor is unable to collect all or any of these items the day after Polling Day, such items are then kept in the storeroom for the contractor to collect at another date. The used and empty boxes and other debris collected are disposed of by the contractor. This arrangement has been in place for years over several elections without issue.

The fact that some boxes were recently found clearly suggests an oversight by working personnel on the ground involved in the collection of such discarded material after Polling Day. Although as I had explained this does not constitute a lapse in the election process proper, I have directed the Elections Department to study how such an incident can be prevented in future to avoid undue alarm or confusion. However such a tightened process to ensure disposal of such discarded material and debris should be practical and not onerous.

Following this incident, ELD has also since checked with all the 164 schools that were used as counting centres to see if there are any other such discarded empty used ballot boxes or other similarly non-controlled election paraphernalia or items kept in their stores. They have since found several such disused boxes in the stores of five schools used as counting centres. These will be collected by the contractor for general disposal.

Member of Parliament Mr Pritam Singh asked whether there is any breach of section 37 of the Presidential Elections Act with regards to this specific case. The investigation by the Police thus far shows that there is no offence disclosed under section 37 of the Act, which relates to the tampering of ballot boxes before and while in use, but investigations continue as to the unauthorised removal of these disused boxes from a locked storeroom.

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): I would like to thank the Minister for the comprehensive reply and the detail at which the Minister went through the elections process proper. Coming to my question, I refer to the press release by the Elections Department on 30 August, where it was stated that ballot papers and other documents used in the elections, are placed into separate boxes and sealed for safe custody at the Supreme Court and then six months later, for disposal. Can I ask the Minister if these other documents include spare ballot boxes and their knocked down form and if the other documents used in the elections are to be placed in separate boxes and sealed for disposal, are there any other election related items that are also similarly disposed by the appointed contractor?

Mr Chan Chun Sing: The answer to the first question is no. They are not the same boxes and there are no other things that are similarly in that category. For the disposed items, or what we call, the non-controlled items would be collected by the contractor for subsequent disposal. This may include other writing materials that are non-controlled items. At no point in time is any controlled item being mixed or left unattended.

The entire process is controlled and carefully watched from the beginning of the polls until the boxes are emptied out. Once the boxes are emptied out, the boxes cease to be called election boxes. They will be known as discarded boxes and the boxes that are used to store the materials for safe keeping at the Supreme Court is a different set of boxes.

Mr Alex Yam (Chua Chu Kang): Mdm Speaker, I thank the Minister for his reply. Two supplementary questions, please. One is, is this the first time such an incident has occurred, and whether there were previous examples of these? The second is that section 49 of the Parliamentary Elections Act has a list of required steps for the disposal of items. Of course this does not include the non-controlled items at the moment. I am wondering if the Ministry should consider the inclusion of additional items under this Schedule.

Mr Chan Chun Sing: Mdm Speaker, let me first clarify the difference between controlled items and non-controlled items. In this particular case, the empty disused boxes are non-controlled items. For the Elections Department, the priority is to ensure that all controlled items, for example ballot papers, are properly accounted for and this, we have done so over the course of the election.

The other question is whether there had been any previous instances whereby non-controlled items were similarly found. We are unaware of this but following this incident, we have done a thorough check on all the counting centres and indeed we found there were some non-controlled items that were not collected by the contractors, and we will tighten up this process even though they are non-controlled items.

Mr Pritam Singh: I thank the Minister for the reply. As the Minister suggested in the initial response that he gave, some people were unduly alarmed at the presence of the spare boxes being discovered. To avoid this sort of alarm in future, would the Minister, depending on the police investigations and other discussions that take place with regard to the incident, would the Minister consider including spare boxes as controlled items in future elections?

Mr Chan Chun Sing: Mdm Speaker, let me say it once again. Spare boxes are not controlled items. The life span of a controlled item in this case, the box, starts from the moment before the polling starts, whereby in the presence of the election officials, the candidates and all their agents, they are shown the empty boxes. The life of the box starts once the box is sealed with the proper seal and then from that point onwards, it is known as a controlled item with the seal under the watch of the election officials all the way until the counting centre.

The life of the ballot box ceases when the seal is broken and the ballot papers are emptied out and the box is certified to be totally empty. That will be the end of the life of the ballot box.

As to whether we would include the unused boxes as controlled items, we will take this issue and study it with the Elections Department. But I must emphasise again, unused boxes are not controlled items. The Member’s question is whether will include them as a controlled item, but these boxes are just any other box.

The most important thing, to ensure the integrity of the process is that once it is sealed with all the necessary markers, it is a controlled item and from that point onwards, we must make sure that the box is always under the watch of the election Officials and the agents and at no point must there be a break in the chain of the controlled item.

CHANGES IN PROCESSES TO PREVENT MISUSE OF DISCARDED BALLOT BOXES – 7 July 2014 (Parliamentary Question put to Minister after completion of police investigations)

23 Mr Pritam Singh asked the Prime Minister in light of the discovery of unused ballot boxes that are not disposed of in a proper manner during the last presidential election (a) whether the Elections Department has studied the prospect of treating all ballot boxes, used or unused, as controlled items until the point of destruction in all future elections; and (b) what changes has the Elections Department introduced to its processes to prevent the occurrence of a similar incident in future.

The Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for Defence (Mr Chan Chun Sing) (for the Prime Minister): Mdm Speaker, may I answer this question on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Mdm Speaker, I had answered a question from the Member of Parliament Mr Pritam Singh on the same issue last September. The ballot boxes discovered in August last year were used and empty ballot boxes that were not disposed in a proper manner. There are no implications on the secrecy of the vote or the integrity of the election process.

The Elections Department has since reviewed and tightened their work processes to ensure that, after every election, all used and empty ballot boxes are accounted for and included in the general disposal of other debris and discarded items. When such boxes are in use to contain ballots, with proper seals, they should and are indeed accounted as controlled items. When such boxes are not in use, with no proper seal, they are not controlled items and we do not need to classify them as such.