Amalgamated Union Of Public Employees

The Executive Council or the Branch Committee shall fix the date, the time and the place for voting and the for General Secretary or the Branch Secretary shall take steps to secure that every member/delegate who is entitled to vote is informed, as far as practicable, of the date, time and place of the ballot. It shall be the responsibility of the Executive Council or the Branch Committee to see that all those who are entitled to vote are given a reasonable opportunity to record their votes freely, that the result of voting are correctly ascertained and declared and that the secrecy of the ballot is properly secured.

The Executive Council or the Branch Committee shall cause the required number of ballot papers to be prepared in the form similar to specimen A1 or A2 or B1. Nothing shall be marked or indicated on any ballot paper by any person, which can in any way identify the member voting.

In the case of Branches which call for nominations a few days before the Triennial General Meeting or Special General Meeting, ballot papers as in Specimen A1 shall be used. Nominations at the meeting shall not be allowed.

In the case of Branches which do not adopt the practice of inviting nominations before the Meeting, nominations shall be made at the meeting and the designations of posts e.g. Chairman or Committee Member, and the names of the persons nominated for such posts shall be written on a blackboard and numbered in the order that the nominations are made. Ballot papers as in Specimen A2 shall be distributed by the Tellers for each post.

The Executive Council or the Branch Committee shall provide if practicable, a separate room, or if that is not practicable, a separate portion of a room for the taking of the ballot together with writing materials and a ballot box which shall be kept sealed from the commencement of the ballot until the time when votes are counted.

The taking of the ballot shall be in the charge of at least three Tellers, at least two of whom shall be present throughout. Such Tellers who shall not be members of the Executive Council in the case of elections to the Executive Council or the Branch Committee, shall be appointed by the Executive Council or at the Triennial or Special Branch General Meeting.

No person shall be present in the room or portion of a room as the case may be during the vote except the Tellers and the members who are actually voting.

Each voter on presenting himself for the purpose of voting shall forthwith produce to one of the Tellers if required, satisfactory evidence of his membership of his name and number which shall be forthwith checked off by such Tellers in the membership list compiled for the purpose and he shall be handed a ballot paper. The Tellers shall ensure that only those members who are entitled to vote are given the opportunity to do so and that each member votes once only on a particular issue.

The voter who has been issued with a ballot paper shall then proceed to record his vote by placing a cross or a number of crosses, as the case may be and no other mark on the ballot paper. Then, folding the ballot paper at least in half, he shall drop it in the ballot-box provided for that purpose and immediately quit the place of voting.

At the conclusion of voting, all ballot papers which have not been used for voting shall be destroyed by the Tellers. The Tellers shall then open the ballot box and count the votes. The Tellers or a majority of them shall decide whether any ballot paper shall be rejected as being invalid and shall forthwith separate any paper so rejected and mark it "Rejected".

After all the votes have been counted, the Tellers shall prepare a statement, as in Specimen (C) and (D) in quadruplicate, of the result of the ballot and handing all copies duly signed either to the Branch Secretary or to the General Secretary as the case may be. The statement shall be counter-signed by the Branch Chairman and the Branch Secretary or the President and the General Secretary as the case may be, and the Tellers shall then announce the result of the ballot to the members present. If the Secret ballot was taken at a Branch, the Branch Secretary shall keep one copy in his files and forward three copies to the General Secretary within four days of the ballot.

One signed copy of the Tellers' Statement shall be sent to the Registrar of Trade Unions by the General Secretary within seven days after the ballot. He shall retain the other copy for at least six months which may be inspected by any member who desires to do so.

Immediately after the result of the ballot has been certified as aforesaid, the ballot papers which have been counted, including the rejected ones and any other documents used in connection with the ballot, shall be sealed up in a large envelope and kept in safe custody for a period of six months for inspection by the Registrar of Trade Unions.

The Executive Council shall determine on what date or dates the ballot papers shall be sent to the members and before what date they shall be returned and the date and time when the votes shall be counted. It shall be the responsibility of the Executive Council to see that all members of the Union who are entitled to vote are given a reasonable opportunity to record their votes freely, that the result of voting are correctly ascertained and declared, and that the secrecy of the ballot is properly secured.

The Executive Council shall cause the required number of ballot papers to be prepared in the form similar to Specimen B2. Nothing shall be marked or indicated on any ballot paper by any person which in any way identify the member voting.

There shall be sent with every ballot paper an envelope on which shall be printed "Ballot Paper, The Tellers, Amalgamated Union of Public Employees, Wisma AUPE, 295 Upper Paya Lebar Road, Singapore 534929". The membership number of the member shall be printed on the envelope.

No member shall be entitled to more than one vote, or shall vote on or send in more than one ballot paper on a particular issue.

It shall be the duty of the President and the General Secretary to secure that a ballot paper and an envelope addressed in accordance with Rule 71.3 hereof is sent to every member of the Union who is entitled to vote, and that, each ballot paper sent to a member is checked off against the name of the member in the Membership List compiled for the purpose.

Every member desiring to vote must return his ballot paper duly marked on or before the date mentioned on the ballot paper to the registered office in the envelope provided; and the General Secretary shall place such envelopes unopened, as and when received, in a locked receptacle, and so retain them until the time fixed for the counting of the votes.

The Executive Council shall appoint at least three members of the Union who are not members of the Executive Council to be Tellers. At the date and time appointed for the counting of the votes, the Tellers shall, after destroying any ballot papers at the registered office which have not been used for voting, check off the returned envelopes against the name of the members in the same Membership List as mentioned in Rule 71.5 hereof to ensure that no unauthorised ballot papers have been cast and that the provisions of Rule 71.6 hereof have been complied with. They shall then open the envelopes and remove the ballot papers. After all the envelopes have been opened, they shall mix the ballot papers thoroughly. They shall then proceed to count the votes in the presence of the President, the General Secretary and as many other officers and members as desire to attend. The Tellers or a majority of them shall decide whether any ballot paper shall be rejected as being invalid and shall forthwith separate any paper so rejected and mark it "Rejected".

After all the votes have been counted, the Tellers shall prepare a statement as in specimen (C) in triplicate, of the result of the ballot and hand the copies duly signed, to the General Secretary. The statement shall be counter-signed by the President and General Secretary. One signed copy of the Tellers' Statement shall be sent to the Registrar of Trade Unions by the General Secretary within seven days after the ballot. The other copy shall be retained by the General Secretary for at least six months for inspection by any member who desires to do so. The Executive Council shall take steps to make known to all the members of the result of the ballot.

Immediately after the result of the ballot has been certified as aforesaid, the ballot papers which have been counted, including the rejected ones, the envelopes and any other documents used in connection with the ballot papers shall be sealed up in large envelopes and kept in safe custody for a period of six months for inspection by the Registrar of Trade Unions.