ELD: Mashable article about bookies odds did not violate Cooling Off Day rules

The article implied that 14 non-PAP members will get elected if the bookies were right.

Martino Tan| September 17, 03:00 PM

Top photo by Edwin Koo.

Mashable, a New York-based digital news company which recently started operating out of Singapore, published an article about Singapore's 2015 General Election bookie odds on Cooling Off Day last Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015.

The article was well-circulated online with 969 shares so far.

Mashable_Asia

 

The article implied that "if the bookies were right, 14 non-PAP members will get elected Friday".

For instance, the bookies predicted that the Workers' Party (WP) will win Aljunied GRC, Hougang SMC, East Coast GRC, Fengshan SMC, Sengkang West SMC, and Punggol East SMC.

When contacted by Mothership.sg, a spokesperson from the Election Department said:

"The Mashable article would not amount to election advertising, neither is it considered an election survey. As such, no further action has been taken on the post as it does not violate the Cooling Off Day rules."

We also asked the officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs. A MHA spokesperson said:

“The Remote Gambling Act (RGA) defines betting as the staking of money or money’s worth on the outcome of a horse-race or sporting event, or any other event or thing specified by the Minister. Hence, this specific instance of betting on GE results falls outside the ambit of RGA.”

Therefore, this may have set a precedent for future GE reporting:

1) Even though the Cooling-Off Day is a period to allow voters to reflect rationally on various issues raised at the GE before heading to the polls, the circulation of bookie odds is construed to not affect a voter's decision to vote for a particular political party -- even if an article pointed to the possibility of 14 opposition party members being voted in.

2) Possibly no local online gambling legislation is violated with such widespread circulation of bookie odds. Yet.

3) If bookie odds are not considered election advertising and an election survey, will this encourage more of such odds to be published in future elections?

 

Related article:

Cooling-Off Day rules: What you can & cannot do one day before Sept. 11 Polling Day

 

Click here to go to our GE2015 microsite for the juiciest election-related news on Mothership.sg.

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.