Elections Dept moves to new site on Jan 4

The Elections Department (ELD) will operate from the site of a former school in Novena Rise from next Monday, completing its relocation from its iconic Prinsep Street premises.

The move, first announced in January last year, will merge the ELD's corporate office and training centre. The latter is now in Victoria Street. Operations at Prinsep and Victoria streets will cease with the move.

The department, which falls under the Prime Minister's Office, had previously said the move to Novena Rise required minimal renovation works.

The site was previously used by Balestier Hill Secondary School but was taken over by the department after the school moved out following its merger with Beatty Secondary School in January 2017.

Since the middle of 2018, the ELD has put up tenders on the government e-procurement portal GeBiz for various services and construction works at the Novena Rise site.

These range from project management services to underground detection works, as well as security services.

The present ELD office, housed in a three-storey building at the corner of Prinsep Street and Prinsep Link, has been the hub of administrative matters related to elections for nearly 25 years, with the most recent being the 2020 General Election.

The ELD was set up in 1947 to train election officers, maintain and update registers of electors as well as plan for the logistics of elections.

The Prinsep Street site has also been the scene where the Returning Officer, whose duties include overseeing the conduct of polls and directing election officials, announces the results.

The department is also responsible for preparing and managing the conduct of national referendums in Singapore.

The ELD was previously located in Shenton Way, at what is now known as the AXA Tower. Before that, it was at the site of the current National Gallery of Singapore in St Andrew's Road.

Plans for the Prinsep Street premises have not yet been announced.