PART III
VOTING
8.
—(1) Subject to the provisions of these Rules, every registered owner whose name appears in a register of owners of beneficiary flats in a building within a precinct in respect of which lift upgrading works in the building are proposed shall be entitled to vote in a poll relating to those lift upgrading works.
(2) Subject to the provisions of these Rules, every registered owner whose name appears in a register of owners of beneficiary flats in a building within a precinct in respect of which lift upgrading works in the building are proposed shall, for the purposes of a poll relating to those lift upgrading works in that building, have —
(a)
if he alone, or together with other registered owners, is the common registered owner of more than one beneficiary flat within the building, one vote in respect of all those flats; and
(b)
in any other case, a number of votes equal to the number of beneficiary flats in that building in respect of which he is registered as an owner.
9.
—(1) In a poll relating to any building within a precinct, the vote of each registered owner entitled to vote at that poll shall have a voting value as follows:
(a)
where the HDB is the registered owner — one, notwithstanding it being the common registered owner of more than one beneficiary flat within that building; and
(b)
in the case of any other registered owner — a number equal to the number of leases the HDB has granted to the registered owner in respect of his beneficiary flat or flats within the building.
(2) In this rule, any reference to a lease granted by the HDB to any registered owner shall include a reference to an agreement for a lease entered into by the HDB with that registered owner.
10. Subject to the provisions of these Rules, every registered owner may vote in a poll in person or by proxy.
11.
—(1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), the vote of joint registered owners (including tenants in common) of a beneficiary flat may be cast by any of them in person or by proxy, and any first such vote cast shall be accepted to the exclusion of the other joint owners; but if more than one registered owner are present at the poll on a polling day, the vote of the senior owner amongst them who tenders a vote, whether in person or by proxy, shall be accepted to the exclusion of the other joint owners.
(2) In the case of tenants in common all of whom are either citizens of Singapore or Singapore corporations or both and who hold unequal shares in a beneficiary flat, the vote of the tenant in common holding the largest share and living at the commencement of the poll shall be accepted to the exclusion of the other tenants in common of that flat.
(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these Rules, where any one of the joint registered owners (including tenants in common) of a beneficiary flat is not a citizen of Singapore or a Singapore corporation, he shall not be entitled to vote in any poll and the vote of the joint registered owners of that flat may be cast only by any of the joint registered owners among them who is a citizen of Singapore or a Singapore corporation either in person or by proxy.
(4) Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to the joint registered owners who are citizens of Singapore or Singapore corporations referred to in paragraph (3).
12. A registered owner of a beneficiary flat who is of unsound mind or whose person or estate is liable to be dealt with in any way under the law relating to mental disorders shall not, even though he is a citizen of Singapore, vote at a poll in person but may vote by his committee or by such other person who properly has the management of his estate, and any such committee or other person may vote by proxy.
13. The HDB may appoint in writing any one of its officers to vote on its behalf at the poll and that officer shall vote at the poll in person.
14.
—(1) A company which is a registered owner may, under the seal of the company or the hand of its director or any duly authorised attorney, appoint such person as it thinks fit to act as its representative at a poll and a person so authorised shall, in accordance with his authority or until his authority is revoked by the company, be entitled to exercise the same powers on behalf of the company as the company could exercise if it were an individual.
(2) A vote cast at a poll by or on behalf of a registered owner who is a company shall have no effect unless the chief polling officer has, before the vote is cast, received from the company a notice in writing specifying the representative of that company.
15.
—(1) Subject to this rule, any person shall be capable of being appointed proxy to vote for a registered owner at any poll and may vote in pursuance of the appointment.
(2) A registered owner cannot have more than one person at a time appointed as proxy to vote for him at a poll.
(3) A person shall not be capable of being appointed to vote, or of voting, as a proxy at a poll if —
(a)
he is, at the commencement of the poll, below 21 years of age;
(b)
he is under any written law found or declared to be of unsound mind; or
(c)
he is not a citizen of Singapore.
(4) A proxy need not be a registered owner of a beneficiary flat within the precinct or a registered owner of a beneficiary flat within the building in relation to which the poll is conducted.
(5) A person appointed to vote as proxy shall vote in person.
16.
—(1) The instrument appointing a proxy shall be in writing, in Form 1 in the Schedule, under the hand of the registered owner or of his attorney duly authorised in writing or, if the registered owner is a corporation (other than the HDB), either under seal or under the hand of an officer or an attorney duly authorised.
(2) A vote given in accordance with the terms of an instrument of proxy or attorney shall be valid notwithstanding the previous death or unsoundness of mind of the principal or revocation of the instrument or of the authority under which the instrument was executed, if no information in writing of such death, unsoundness of mind or revocation has been received by the Town Council before the commencement of the poll at which the instrument is used.
(3) The instrument appointing a proxy and the power of attorney or other authority, if any, under which it is signed or a notarially certified copy of that power or authority shall, before the vote is cast by the proxy at the poll, be deposited —
(a)
at the office of the chief polling officer;
(b)
with a polling officer at the polling place; or
(c)
at such other place as is specified in the notices of a poll referred to in rule 20,
and in default, the instrument of proxy shall be treated as invalid.
17. The chief polling officer shall, in respect of the poll, prepare a list of proxies consisting of all those registered owners of beneficiary flats who have given notice under rule 14(2) or deposited an instrument of proxy pursuant to rule 16(3), and the names and addresses of all those appointed as their representatives or proxies.