Singaporean Voter Unintentionally Breaks Polling Station X-Stamp, Manages To Repair It
The Elections Department (ELD) had to debunk several claims about the brand-new Polling Day X-stamp. Unfortunately, they were not prepared for confused voters accidentally breaking the stamps when trying to vote.
A TikTok user shared her experience of accidentally breaking the X-stamp at the polling centre, thinking it had a removable cover.
@iinsynced what was i thinking… #pe2023 #fypsg #funny #singaporepresidentialelection
She subsequently managed to repair it after some panicking.
OP breaks X-stamp on Polling Day
Singapore’s voters faced several issues on Polling Day. Aside from the general nerves of deciding who to vote for, there were hour-long queues at the polling stations in the morning at several locations.
Voters also had to be wary of not stamping outside the borders, which would render their votes spoilt.
For one TikTok user, however, the primary issue proved to be the X-stamp itself.
In the video, she sheepishly admitted that her “dumbass brain” thought the X-stamp came with a removable cover.
She then found out, at the cost of the X-stamp, that it did not in fact have a removable cover when she tried to take it out.
Source: @iinsynced on TikTok
When attempting to remove the non-existent cover, she broke it, pulling the handle from the chop segment of the X-stamp.
Not the only ‘victim’ of the mistake
The OP began to panic at breaking the voting equipment.
Thankfully, she managed to repair the stamp and cast her vote.
She stated that she hoped she stamped the proper choice of candidate amidst all the panicking.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
The OP also told MS News that her neighbours encountered the same issue with the stamps.
She was definitely not the only one to make the mistake. Many netizens admitted to pulling the stamp apart in the comments, giving OP some relief that it was not just an individual error.
Source: TikTok
In fact, so many comments shared solidarity in breaking the stamps by accident that we wonder if the problem lies with the X-stamp’s design itself.
At least one MS News reader also told us that she snapped the stamp’s handle off trying to remove the “cover”.
They said they eventually used a pen to make their vote instead.
Fortunately, even if the stamp is broken, votes made using pens are still valid.
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Featured image adapted from @iinsynced on TikTok and Lianhe Zaobao.
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