Automatic recount if difference in votes is 2% or less; special voting hour for those serving stay-home notice

Singapore

FOR the July 10 General Election, there will be an automatic recount if the difference in the number of votes between the top candidate and any other candidate is 2 per cent or less, the Elections Department (ELD) said in a statement on Wednesday.

There will be no need for candidates or counting agents to apply for a recount, unlike in previous elections.

ELD also released details of voting arrangements to ensure the health and safety of voters as the election is taking place during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

A special voting hour between 7pm and 8pm will be allocated on Polling Day for Singaporeans under the Covid-19 stay-home notice (SHN), those on medical certificate for acute respiratory infection and those with fever. There are about 360 voters as at June 30 in those groups.

During that hour, there will be a smaller team of election officials manning the polling station. They will don full personal protective equipment and sanitise polling equipment and contact surfaces after every voter's use. There will be no temperature screening since voters with fever are allowed to vote during the special voting hour.

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Ordinary voters should avoid the special voting hour and keep to their recommended two-hour voting time-band, said the ELD.

Covid-19 patients and voters who are on quarantine order for the virus - about 350 as at June 30 - will not be allowed to vote.

Those on SHN at designated facilities can cast their votes without leaving their rooms as a mobile polling team will deliver the ballot paper to them.

There are five special polling stations - four at Marina Bay Sands and one at JW Marriott South Beach. Additional ones will be published on July 7.

This time around, there are 2.65 million voters, including 6,570 overseas voters.

Hardcopy poll cards are being sent out, with voters to receive them before Polling Day. Voters can also use the SingPass Mobile app to access their ePoll card and use it in lieu of the hardcopy poll cards to be presented at the polling station.

The poll cards will show the recommended voting time bands and their assigned polling station. Voters can check the queue situation at

http://VoteQ.gowhere.gov.sg before setting off to vote.

This year, the number of polling stations was increased to 1,100 from 880 previously. The number of voters per polling station was also reduced from an average of 3,000 to 2,400, as part of measures to reduce potential crowding at polling stations.

Similar to the previous election, a sample count of 100 will be done at the start of the counting process to get an early indication of the possible outcome. This will be published on the ELD website while counting is still in progress. ELD cautioned that the final result could be different.

Counting machines will also be employed this time to quicken the counting process. The first round will be counted manually, while the second round will use the machines. These machines will have to pass a pre-counting test by election officials to ascertain accuracy before the commencement of the count.

For Singaporeans abroad, there are 10 overseas polling stations in Beijing, Canberra, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo and Washington.

Voting at the overseas polling stations is subject to the approval of the overseas authorities and the prevailing Covid-19 situation in those cities.

The overseas polling stations will implement similar safety measures as in Singapore. They will also implement a special voting hour of between 7pm and 8pm on Polling Day.

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