ICA investigating case of solo voter in polling district within new Tampines Changkat SMC
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The anomalous single voter came to light after the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee released its report on March 11.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE - The case of a solo voter in a polling district within the new Tampines Changkat SMC is being investigated by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
The voter in question had registered his residential address as a unit in an industrial park.
ICA told The Straits Times that a person’s registered address should be where that individual physically resides, and it is against the law to falsely declare one’s residential address.
The anomalous single voter came to light after the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) released its report
News website AsiaOne reported that the man is a 53-year-old business owner, who wanted to be known only by his surname Yeo.
Mr Yeo said he had changed his residential address from somewhere in central Singapore to that of a unit in Tampines Industrial Park A, where he runs a family business.
He added that he does not live in the unit.
Government agency JTC Corporation manages Tampines Industrial Park A. It told ST it is working with ICA on the investigation.
ICA said declaring a place of residence based on where a person physically lives ensures that government agencies can reliably reach individuals for various purposes. These include voter registration, contact tracing during health emergencies and other administrative matters.
It added: “ICA is investigating the case of the solo voter and is unable to provide further details at this juncture.”
In the EBRC report, a single voter was listed under the East Coast 42 polling district, which comes under the new Tampines Changkat SMC
The report was based on the provisional Registers of Electors as at Feb 1.
But checks by ST found that there was no known valid residence in the polling district at that time, as it comprised only four upcoming Housing Board Build-To-Order (BTO) projects and an industrial estate.
Three of the BTO projects remain under construction, and the Tampines GreenEmerald project was recently completed, with the first batch of residents getting their keys only on Feb 23.
Responding to ST’s questions, ICA said that, under the National Registration Act, all identity card (IC) holders are required to report a change of address within 28 days of moving into a new residence, whether local or overseas. The change can be done online via ICA’s change-of-address e-service
ICA said it is important that IC holders make truthful declarations, as these addresses serve as the official point of contact for government agencies.
It added that in cases where property or premises owners have issued guidelines restricting the use of their premises as a place of residence, it is the responsibility of these owners to enforce such restrictions.
ICA added that it is “not operationally tenable” for the agency to verify every person’s declared place of residence, or check with premises owners if they prohibit individuals from living in their commercial or industrial buildings.
Those who fail to report a change of address or falsely declare their residential address may be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for up to five years.
