About 200 Singaporeans' names left out of voters' list for Presidential Election despite claims they voted in GE 2020

SINGAPORE: About 200 Singaporeans have informed the Elections Department (ELD) that their names are not in the Registers of Electors for the upcoming Presidential Election, even though they said they voted in the 2020 General Election. 

As a result, they did not receive their poll cards and will be unable to vote when Singapore goes to the ballot box on Sep 1. 

ELD said on Thursday (Aug 24) that based on preliminary checks, the NRICs of some voters may not have been properly scanned by the electronic registration devices that were used at polling stations in 2020, resulting in the voter attendance data not being captured in the system. 

More sensitive electronic registration devices will be deployed at the polling stations for the Presidential Election this year, said ELD.

“ELD will be reaching out to Singaporeans who have informed us of this matter and will, upon verification, restore their names to the registers after the election, so that they can vote at future elections. No further action from them is needed," the department added.

In Singapore, voting in elections is compulsory for all who are eligible. All Singaporeans whose names are in the Registers of Electors have to cast their ballots on Polling Day, according to the ELD website.

Those who fail to do so will have their names removed from the Registers of Electors after the election. They can apply to have their names restored so that they will be eligible to vote in future elections. 

Since Aug 11, when the writ for the Presidential Election was issued, about 200 Singaporeans have told the ELD that their names were not reflected in the Registers of Electors certified on Jul 20, even though they said they had voted in the previous election. 

Prior to every election, voters would have been informed to check on their voter status and apply to restore their names to the registers if the names have been removed. The first opportunity to do so was on Oct 5, 2020, when ELD published the list of non-voters for the 2020 General Election. 

“More recently, in the leadup to the Presidential Election 2023, ELD revised the Registers of Electors to bring the registers up to date as at the prescribed date of Jun 1, 2023," it said.

"Singaporeans were then invited to inspect the revised registers from Jun 15, 2023 and again when the Registers of Electors were certified on Jul 20, 2023,” said the department, adding that people whose names were not in the registers could apply to have their names restored.

From Oct 5, 2020 until the writ of election was issued on Aug 11 this year, 32,807 voters successfully applied to restore their names to the registers. They will be able to vote in the upcoming Presidential Election.

The number of voters restored to the registers this time round is similar to previous elections.

“As the writ of election had been issued on Aug 11, 2023, under the law, no restoration can be made to reinstate non-voters into the registers until the end of Polling Day on Sep 1, 2023," said ELD.

"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.”

In a separate statement on Thursday afternoon, ELD apologised after nearly 10,000 voters in Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC) received two poll cards due to a printer's error. 

The printer, Toppan, had sent out test prints of poll cards to 4,803 households, which corresponds to 9,822 voters from Tanjong Pagar GRC. 

Of these, 9,354 voters received two poll cards with different serial numbers, while the rest received two poll cards with identical information.

The affected voters are assigned to vote at St Margaret's School, Tanglin Community Centre, Farrer Park Primary School and Delta Sports Hall polling stations within Tanjong Pagar GRC.

ELD said that it was in the process of reaching out to affected voters to inform them of their correct serial number.

"Voters can also obtain the correct details from their ePoll card on Singpass, which is accurate and unaffected by this printing error," it added.