Next Friday (1 Sep), Singaporeans will head to the polls to vote for the country’s next President.
However, quite a number of Singaporeans were unable to find their names in the Registers of Electors.
As a result, they did not receive their poll cards and won’t be able to vote in the upcoming Presidential Election 2023 (PE2023).
The Elections Department of Singapore (ELD) has stated that it is aware of this issue and will reach out to those affected to restore their names to the voters’ list.
On Thursday (24 Aug), the ELD shared a press release addressing the exclusion of some Singaporeans’ names from the Registers of Electors.
Source: Google Maps
ELD said that since the issuance of the Writ for PE2023 on 11 Aug, around 200 Singaporeans have reported their names missing from the Registers of Electors, which was certified on 20 July.
Those affected did not receive their poll cards, which means they will be unable to vote come 1 Sep.
This was despite the fact that they had voted in GE2020.
In Singapore, those who failed to vote at a previous election will be revoked from the register of electors and cannot vote at subsequent elections until they apply to restore their names via Singpass.
The ELD noted that citizens should check their voter status and apply to restore their names to the registers if necessary.
Voters were first able to do so back in October 2020 when the ELD published a list of non-voters for GE2020.
The Registers of Electors were recently revised in the lead-up to PE2023. Singaporeans could check the updated registers from 15 June and again from 20 July, following its certification.
Those whose names were missing from the registers could then submit an application to restore their names.
According to the ELD, a total of 32,807 voters successfully applied to restore their names to the registers between 5 Oct 2020 and 11 Aug 2023.
According to ELD, the law states that since the Writ of Election has already been issued, they cannot allow the reinstation of non-voters into the registers till the end of Polling Day on 1 Sep.
“This is because the Registers are conclusive evidence used to determine whether a person is or is not entitled to vote at the election, and it is thus necessary to maintain the certainty of the Registers once the Writ was issued,” the ELD explained.
In the latest case, investigations by ELD found that some voters’ NRICs may not have been properly scanned by the electronic registration devices at polling stations during GE2020.
Because of this, the system did not capture their voter attendance data.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
To prevent this from happening at PE2023, the ELD will install “more sensitive electronic registration devices” at the polling stations.
As for those who reported their omission from the registers, the ELD said that it will be contacting them for verification.
It will then restore their names to the registers after PE2023 so that they can vote in future elections.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
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