In pictures: Singaporeans head to the polls for Presidential Election
SINGAPORE: More than 2.7 million Singaporeans are voting on Friday (Sep 1) for Singapore's ninth President.
Three candidates – former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song, former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and former NTUC Income chief executive Tan Kin Lian – are contesting this year's Presidential Election.
During the opening hour of voting, long queues formed at some polling stations.
The Elections Department (ELD) said later in the morning that the queue situation had eased at most polling stations, but voters are still advised to cast their ballots in the afternoon.
Voting in Singapore's elections is compulsory for all who are eligible.
"It is a fundamental right of citizenship and a civic responsibility of citizens to choose and elect their leaders in a democracy," said the Elections Department (ELD).
As of 5pm, 2,302,996 Singaporeans have cast their votes at the 1,264 polling stations islandwide, said the Elections Department Singapore (ELD).
This is about 85 per cent of the total number of eligible voters.
The ELD advised voters who have yet to vote to cater enough time to do so, before polling stations close at 8pm.
The counting of votes will begin after.
For the sample count, a counting assistant at each counting place will pick a random bundle of 100 ballot papers and count them for each candidate. This will be done in front of candidates or their counting agents.
The votes are added up, with weightage given according to the number of votes cast at each polling station. The sample count will be shown as a percentage of valid votes for each candidate.
After that, the assistant returning officer tells the candidates or their counting agents at each polling station the sample count results.
The sample count will be released to the media and published on the ELD website while counting is still in progress.
But people should wait for the returning officer's announcement to know the election result, which could be different from the sample count.
The returning officer must conduct a recount if the difference between the number of votes for the candidate with the most votes and for any other candidate is 2 per cent or less.