begins when the President, acting on Cabinet's advice, issues a writ of election addressed to the returning officer, who is the official responsible for overseeing the election. The writ specifies the date when the nomination of candidates is to be taken (which must not be earlier than five days nor later than one month from the date of the writ), and the places of nomination. The returning officer issues a notice stating that the writ of election has been issued by the President and stipulating the date, time and places for nomination of candidates, the documents that candidates must submit on nomination day, and the amount of the deposit that must be lodged. This notice must be issued at least four clear days before nomination day. Application for minority certificate Any person who wishes to participate in an election as a minority candidate in a GRC must, after the date of notice of the writ of election and at least two clear days before nomination day, apply to the Malay Community Committee or the Indian and Other Minority Communities Committee for a certificate stating that they are a person belonging to the Malay, Indian or some other minority community. Certificates to this effect will be issued by the respective committees not later than the day before nomination day. Political donations Under the Political Donations Act, candidates for general elections may only receive political donations from Singapore citizens who are at least 21 years old, or Singapore-controlled companies which carry on business wholly or mainly in Singapore. The receipt of anonymous donations is prohibited, except for anonymous donations totalling less than $5,000 received during a period starting with the date 12 months before the date when the candidate makes the declaration referred to below and ending with nomination day. After the date of the writ of election and at least two clear days before nomination day, a candidate or prospective candidate must provide the Registrar of Political Donations with a report stating all the donations received from permissible donors that amount to at least $10,000 received during the 12 months preceding the declaration mentioned in the next sentence. They must also submit to the Registrar a declaration stating, to the best of their knowledge and belief, that they did not receive any other donations required to be mentioned in the donation report, and that only donations from permissible donors or allowable