GE2025: Voters turn up in droves despite morning downpour; 82% have cast their votes as at 5pm

Follow our live coverage here.

SINGAPORE – Wedding planning can be stressful at the best of times, but for bride Aneetha Jeet Kaur Dhillon, things were extra nerve-racking with her May 3 wedding coinciding with Polling Day. 

A few of the groomsmen were activated for polling station duties and several guests pulled out because of the clash, which meant schedules had to be adjusted and seating plans rearranged, said Ms Dhillon, an accountant. 

“I was a little frantic when I found out (about Polling Day) because we’ve planned this wedding for months, so the news came suddenly,” she told The Straits Times.

“However, we managed to pull through despite a few inevitable hiccups here and there.” 

After saying “I do” at the Calvary Pandan Bible Presbyterian Church, Ms Dhillon and her husband Sherman Ding rushed off to cast their votes, still dressed in their wedding finery.

They were assigned different polling centres, according to their registered addresses.

After a lunch reception at the church in Pandan Gardens, Ms Dhillon went to Block 460 Jurong West Street 41.

A friend held up the long train of her dress, which weighed 12kg, as she dashed across the void deck, attracting curious stares and smiles at the polling centre in Jurong Central. 

Immediately after casting her vote, Ms Dhillon was off again, this time to be reunited with her husband for their rescheduled wedding photo shoot. 

Some of Singapore’s 2.6 million voters got a rainy start at the polls on May 3, with many braving the early morning torrential downpour to cast their votes

amid flash-flood warnings in several areas.

Lines started forming about an hour before the 1,240 polling centres, across schools, void decks and Housing Board pavilions, opened their gates at 8am.

In Punggol, lawyer Raphael Louis, 54, and his wife, Ms Irene Lum, 51, were the first to cast their votes at the Block 264 polling station.

They arrived at 6.15am to beat the queue to cast their votes in what they said was likely “the most exciting election ever”. 

“There was a lot of (campaigning on) social media, especially YouTube and podcasts. We had a lot more info pertaining to (the) candidates,” Mr Louis said. 

The couple, who said they attended one rally, have a 19-year-old daughter. They said she followed the campaigning closely and was disappointed to be not old enough to vote.

Singaporeans have to be not less than 21 years old to vote.

Farther east, at Poi Ching School in Tampines, residents arrived in dribs and drabs clutching large umbrellas. 

Mr Juanda and Mrs Sariah, who gave only their first names, were two of the earliest voters at Poi Ching School. They turned up before 8am because they had planned a short break across the Causeway on Polling Day.

In Woodlands, where Prime Minister Lawrence Wong contested as part of the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC team, early voters were spared the downpour that fell in other parts of the island.

The four-member team was up against contenders from the Singapore Democratic Party.  

At least 50 people were in line at 8.05am at the polling station at Block 168 Woodlands Street 11. 

By late morning, the skies had cleared. Most Singaporeans reported the voting process to have been a breeze, with few voters or no queues at the polling centres. 

PM Wong and Mrs Wong showed up to cast their votes at the MOE (Evans) Sport Hall, a polling centre for Tanjong Pagar GRC, just after 12pm. 

Shortly before that, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, accompanied by his wife Mrs Lee, arrived to vote at Crescent Girls’ School, a polling centre for Tanjong Pagar GRC.

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse, Ms Jane Ittogi, arrived at Nanyang Girls’ High School in Linden Drive after 5pm to cast their votes. 

As at 5pm, 2,164,593 Singaporeans had turned up to cast their votes islandwide, or about 82 per cent of eligible electors in all contested electoral divisions, the Elections Department said.

By the close of polls at 8pm, 2,429,281 votes, including 42,829 rejected votes, were cast in Singapore. This made up 92.47 per cent of the 2,627,026 registered electors in all contested electoral divisions. 

Senior citizens, those with mobility issues and individuals with special needs were given priority at the polling centres, with some wheeled to the polling booths by election officials. 

Around 2,800 eligible voters aboard the Genting Dream cruise ship returned early so they could vote, reported Shin Min Daily News.  

Initially scheduled for a two-night journey, the vessel returned to shore early in the morning on May 3, before setting sail again at 6pm. 

General Election 2025 saw physical rallies returning for the first time since 2015, after the pandemic limited campaigning in 2020.

Covid-19 pandemic prevention rules meant long waiting times in the 2020 General Election. Polls were kept open for an additional two hours so that everyone could have a chance to vote. 

The 2025 election saw nine days of intense campaigning, with 92 of 97 parliamentary seats to be decided on Polling Day. Only the PAP team in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC was returned unopposed on Nomination Day.

The PAP contested all seats against 10 opposition parties and two independent candidates in 32 constituencies, with multi-cornered fights in Ang Mo Kio, Sembawang and Tampines GRCs, and the single seats of Potong Pasir and Radin Mas.

Tampines had the most number of contenders, with the PAP up against three opposition parties – the WP, National Solidarity Party and People’s Power Party.

Other closely watched battlegrounds that emerged during the hustings included the new Punggol GRC and Jalan Kayu SMC.

A last-minute switch on Nomination Day on April 23 saw Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong moved from Chua Chu Kang GRC, where he had been for 14 years, to lead the team in Punggol GRC.

They were up against a WP team led by Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh. 

Meanwhile, in Tampines GRC, the WP’s former Aljunied GRC MP Faisal Manap led a five-member team against the PAP incumbents, led by Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli.

First-time voter Natasha, a 25-year-old information technology worker who declined to give her last name, was among residents at the polling station at Block 436 Fernvale Road, in the new Jalan Kayu SMC.

The constituency was previously part of Ang Mo Kio GRC led by SM Lee.

Ms Natasha, who followed most of the rallies online, said the most novel part of this election was the big social media push from all parties. 

Actress Sora Ma, 41 and a first-time voter, was seen with her eight-month-old son Skye, casting her vote at a polling station in Tampines GRC at about 12.05pm. 

“To be able to have a voice in shaping the future of Singapore is very meaningful,” the Malaysian-born actress, who became a Singapore citizen earlier in 2025, told ST.