About 200 S’poreans not in PE2023 voter list as they may not have been properly registered in GE2020
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The Elections Department said some NRICs may not have been properly scanned at polling stations during GE2020.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE - About 200 Singaporeans have informed the authorities since Aug 11 that their names were not reflected in the Registers of Electors, even though they had voted at the 2020 General Election, the Elections Department (ELD) said on Thursday.
Preliminary checks found that their NRICs may not have been properly scanned by the electronic registration devices used at polling stations in the 2020 election.
This resulted in voter attendance data not being captured in the system, ELD said in a statement.
“For PE2023, more sensitive electronic registration devices will be deployed,” it added.
As it stands, those affected will not receive their poll cards and will not be able to vote at the upcoming presidential election on Sept 1.
ELD said it will reach out to those who informed them of the matter and will, upon checks, restore their names after Polling Day.
It added that before every election, voters are 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 GE2020, the statement said.
Singaporeans were invited to inspect the revised registers on several occasions by the time the Registers of Electors were certified on July 20 this year. ELD said: “Those whose names were not in the registers could apply to restore their names to the registers.”
Between Oct 5, 2020, and Aug 11 this year, when the Writ of Election – the order to hold an election – was issued, 32,807 voters had successfully applied to restore their names to the registers and will be able to vote at the presidential election.
“The number of voters restored to the registers this time round is similar to previous elections,” said ELD.
It added that under the law, no restoration can be made to re-instate non-voters into the registers until the end of Polling Day on Sept 1.
“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,” said ELD.
