[root@id3 root]# cat test.pl
#!/usr/bin/perl

$|++;

$SIG{HUP} = sub { do_end_vote() };

while ( 1 ) {
    my $event = check_for_event();
    if ( $event ) {
        do_start_vote();
        if ( fork() == 0 ) {
            # this is kid
            sleep 10;
            local $SIG{HUP} = sub { print "Child caught HUP!" };
            # signal parent (and kid)
            kill HUP, $0;
            exit 0;
        }
    }
    # this is parent
    sleep 1;
    print ".";
}

sub do_start_vote { print "Begin" }
sub do_end_vote{ print "End!" }

# generate one event every 20 calls to this sub for testing
sub check_for_event{ $a++; return $a%20 == 0 ? 1 : 0 }

[root@id3 root]# ./test.pl 
...................Begin.........Child caught HUP!End!...........Begin.........Child caught HUP!End!...........Begin....

[root@id3 root]#