Nearly half of the voters in Punggol East have cast their votes, said the Elections Department in its latest update.

It said that as of 12 noon, 45 per cent of the 31,649 registered voters have already voted.

There have been steady streams of voters at all ten polling centres around Punggol East since morning when polls were opened.

All four candidates for the single member constituency were also spotted making their rounds.

Dr Koh Poh Koon from the People's Action Party, the Workers' Party's Ms Lee Li Lian, Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the Reform Party and the Singapore Democratic Alliance's Mr Desmond Lim had all separately visited the polling centre at Rivervale Drive Block 116D between 9.45am and 11.45am.

They did not speak to residents or members of the media, but had observed how the polls was going and greeted residents with smiles.

The polls will close at 8pm today.