An "automatic" recount will be done in the 2020 General Election when the difference in votes between candidates contesting a constituency is 2 per cent or less.
Previously, candidates or counting agents had to apply for a recount.
The change was highlighted by the Elections Department (ELD) yesterday, when it announced the arrangements for the July 10 polls.
The tallying of votes is done immediately after the polls are closed.
It goes on late into the night on Polling Day and usually continues into the early hours of the following day.
At the start of the counting process, a sample count of 100 ballot papers is conducted for an early indication of the possible outcome for that electoral division.
"As this is a sample count, the election result could be different," the ELD stressed, adding that people should wait for the Returning Officer to announce the result.
The ELD had announced earlier that mechanical counting machines will be deployed this time round to speed up the counting process.
However, a manual count of the ballot papers will remain.
The first round of counting will be done manually and a second round will be done using the machines, said the ELD.
Each machine will have to pass a "pre-counting test" by election officials to check for accuracy before counting starts at the counting centres. Only machines that have passed the test will be used.
For this election, several new measures will be implemented to improve the voting process amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Voters will be given recommended time slots to vote and they can check the queue situation at their polling station online before turning up with their poll card and NRIC or passport.
They can also use their e-poll cards on the SingPass Mobile app instead of the hard-copy version.
Voters can expect a shorter wait at the polling station with an e-registration system, where they just need to scan their NRIC to register.
Then, they have to sanitise their hands and put on disposable gloves before receiving their ballot papers.
At the polling booth, they can use their own pen or the new self-inking pen to mark their choice.
Calvin Yang
