[PE]: Gentle reminder: If U want to spoil your vote, pls do so PROPERLY.

Quoted from: Counting agent me (8May2011) [link]
".. I saw one ballot that looked like example 9, with two ticks. It was accepted as valid. There was one ballot that looked like example 10. It too was treated as a valid vote for the 'triangle and star' party despite my protest, the reasoning being that the voter only marked one half of the ballot paper and left the other half clean. While watching another table, I came across another ballot rather similar to example 10, shown here as example 11. It too was accepted as a vote in favour of the 'triangle and star party'."

My suggestion would be to write: "This is a spoilt vote" all over the ballot paper or something similar so as to remove all ambiguity as to one's intention to spoil one's vote.

The reasons for spoiling one's vote are many fold.

For me, it is against PAP's super-sizing of GRCs that has made a mockery of 'democratic' elections in Singapore.
(In short, rather then having so many super-sized GRCs, the should be a rule that at least 33.3% of candidates in a GRC be of minority race and that 15 minority candidates shall be represented- this would mean that GRCs only occupy a total of between 31 to 45 parliamentary seats (current=75seats) and SMCs the other 42- 56seats (current=12seats) accordingly in the current 87 seat parliament-> an increase to 4x the number of SMCs now represented in Parliament). [calc details at [link]]

With PAP's current 81/87 (93.1%) seat majority in parliament no-less due to the such prejudiced election rules, PAP overwhelmingly has the ability to override the 'elected president' in many aspects of his powers with a simple 2/3 parliamentary majority.

In any case, only 2 of the 6 persons in the Council of Presidential Advisers is chosen by the President ('elected') himself; of the other 4, 2 are directly chosen by the Prime Minister (PM) and the other 2, one by the CJ and the other the head of the PSC- both of whom are in the first instance appointed under the advice of the PM.

So since my vote really doesn't count much, I'd spoil it just to protest my displeasure at:
i) the perversion of existing political landscape caused in the first place by the unjustified super-sized-GRC system of elections.
ii) being forced to vote for 4 rich-men wannabes with no obvious choice of abstention.

Until and unless this situation improves, perhaps the most important concern to me now is correcting the prejudice noted in the interpretation of some votes (examples 10 and 11 above)- which clearly should be considered in spirit as spoilt votes- NOT accrued to the party against the wishes of the voter concerned- as a voter who had read the ST voter's FAQ ought to have understood [ST, 6May2011 (link)].

References:
- 'Council of Presidential Advisers': "The Constitutional .. also provided for a Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA) to advise the President in the exercise of his custodial and discretionary powers. It is obligatory for the President to consult the Council before he vetoes the budgets of the Government and key government-linked bodies and the appointments of government nominees to key posts." [Istana> President's office> CPA]

- 'Polling Day: Answers to frequently asked questions': "Here we answer voters' frequently asked questions, with responses from the Elections Department, the Handbook ... " [ST, 6May2011]

- Adrian K: 'Second-lowest rate of spoilt votes since 1988': "Spoilt votes accounted for 2.17 per cent of the total votes cast in last Saturday’s General Election (GE), the second-lowest rate since Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) were introduced in 1988." [TDYonline, 11May2011]

- Ng E-Jay: 'Does the Singapore President have any real political power?': "As long as the PAP retains a firm grip on power, the Elected Presidency will continue to see its own powers being curtailed and diminished. Only a strong opposition in Parliament can serve as a check against the ruling party." [SGpolitics.net, 07Jul2011]

Rgds
B.C. and thanks for reading.

=================
At/ related:
A1forum:
27Aug2011: [PE]: Gentle reminder: If U want to spoil your vote, pls do so PROPERLY.
HWZ:
27Aug2011: [PE]: Gentle reminder: If U want to spoil your vote, pls do so PROPERLY.
SGforum:
27Aug2011: [PE]: If U want to spoil your vote, pls do so PROPERLY.
Sboy:
27Aug2011: [PE]: Gentle reminder: If U want to spoil your vote, pls do so PROPERLY.
SGclub:
27Aug2011: [PE]: Gentle reminder: If U want to spoil your vote, pls do so PROPERLY.