Registers of electors to be revised by Jul 31

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has directed the Elections Department (ELD) to revise Singapore's registers of electors by Jul 31, ELD said on Monday (May 20).

This comes ahead of a General Election that must be held by next year.

"In accordance with section 14(1) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, the Prime Minister has directed the registration officer to revise the registers of electors and to complete the revision before Jul 31, 2024," ELD said in a media release.

"The revision is to bring the registers up to date."

Any person who meets the following qualifying criteria as of Jun 1, 2024, will have their name included in a register for an electoral division:

• Is a Singapore citizen
• Is not less than 21 years of age
• Is not disqualified from being an elector under any prevailing law
• Has a Singapore residential address on their NRIC or is residing overseas and has changed their NRIC address to an overseas address while having a contact address in Singapore registered with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority for voting purposes

"The revised registers of electors will be open for public inspection in June 2024," said ELD.

More details on how Singaporeans can check the registers of electors will be provided when they are open for public inspection, it added.

In Singapore, voting in elections is compulsory for all who are eligible. Those who fail to do so will have their names removed from the registers after the election.

They can apply to have their names restored so that they will be eligible to vote in future elections.

Those who have had their names removed from the registers have been able to apply to restore them for the next election since Nov 10, 2023.

Singaporeans can check their particulars and their voter status on the Singpass app and under voter services on the ELD website.

Names cannot be restored from the date a writ for an election is issued until after that election's Nomination Day if it is not contested or until after its Polling Day if a poll is to be taken.

Singapore's last General Election was held on Jul 10, 2020.

The next General Election must be held by November 2025, but some political observers expect an election to be called within months, following the swearing-in of Mr Wong as Singapore's fourth Prime Minister.

Mr Wong became Prime Minister on May 15, replacing Mr Lee Hsien Loong, who led the country for 20 years. Mr Lee is now serving as Senior Minister in his successor's first Cabinet.