RDU slapped with S$750 removal fee for election posters found in prohibited areas

The Elections Department (ELD) informed Red Dot United Party (RDU) that it would have to pay S$750 in removal fees regarding 15 election posters removed on Cooling-off Day.

In response to queries by Mothership, ELD said that 15 of RDU's posters were found to breach guidelines regarding Traditional Election Advertising (TEA), and it continued to receive complaints about RDU's posters in prohibited areas from 9 pm on Cooling-off Day to the "early hours" of Polling Day.

On May 9, RDU's Liyana Dhamirah shared that she spent Cooling-off Day "running around" Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC cutting down RDU election posters.

She claimed that some of the party's posters were deliberately taken down and put up in places that breach ELD guidelines.

ELD advised RDU to file a police report if it suspects sabotage, and said it would consider waiving the S$50 removal fee for each poster if police investigations found the claims true.

Between Nomination Day and 9pm Cooling-Off Day, parties have three hours to remove posters in breach of TEA regulations, while on Polling Day, they only have one hour.

According to ELD's statement, Aetos removed 15 posters on Cooling-Off Day.

According to ELD's website, posters can be hung in permissible locations, such as lamp posts, without traffic signs or cameras and only on alternate lamp posts. However, they cannot be displayed within 50 metres of any polling stations.

"In Ms Liyana’s case, her team is currently required to pay a total of $750 for 15 TEAs that AETOS removed during the election. RDU had notified ELD that the posters that were removed by AETOS had been relocated there from their original locations without the party’s authorisation.

ELD had advised RDU to lodge a police report if they suspect any sabotage/mischief. ELD is prepared to consider waiving the removal fee if Police investigation finds that RDU’s posters were indeed relocated without the party’s authorisation."

Urgent Notice

In her Facebook post on May 9, Liyana shared that RDU was given an urgent notice from ELD that their election posters were in breach of advertising rules and were given five hours to remove them.

However, Liyana alleged that it might have been coordinated sabotage, as the party followed advertising rules, but "someone else hadn't."

"Posters that were correctly placed by our team were quietly removed and re-tied elsewhere - onto street signs, PUB fixtures, lamp posts - all to trap us into breaches. Instead of simply tearing them down, these saboteurs went a step further: deliberately re-placing them in illegal spots so we’d be fined, penalised, and our time & effort wasted.

She pointed to the difference in zip ties as proof that the posters had been moved.

When we put them up, we used black zip ties. But when I went to take them down? White zip ties held them in place. That’s not a coincidence."

Questioning whether it had been "orchestrated sabotage or misguided support".

"Whether it was orchestrated sabotage or misguided support, the truth is this: our campaign was disrupted in an underhanded way. Unless the authorities step in, we may never know who was responsible. Maybe — just maybe — these were overenthusiastic supporters. But we won’t know unless proper investigations are made."

RDU's statement

RDU issued a statement on May 26, where party secretary-general Ravi Philemon stated that it had initiated a preliminary review of the TEA placements at Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC and Nee Soon GRC.

They underwent a full stocktake and spoke with their service provider before a report was compiled for the party's Central Executive Council (CEC) to determine the next steps.

The report has been completed and will be reviewed during their upcoming CEC meeting on May 30, 2025.

Here is their full Facebook post.

Top photos via Liyana Dhamirah/Facebook & RDU/Facebook