Singapore presidential election 2023: Polling stations to be in 31 nursing homes
Pilot programme seeks to ease voting on seniors who may have difficulty travelling; overseas Singaporeans can also vote by post
SINGAPORE — The upcoming Singapore presidential election on 1 September will see a pilot programme whereby polling arrangements will be set up in nursing homes which have over 50 voters.
This new arrangement is made possible by changes to Singapore's election laws that were passed in Parliament in March this year, in order to ease voting for seniors in nursing homes who may have difficulty travelling to polling stations.
Polling stations will be set up on-site and mobile polling teams may be deployed to bring the ballot boxes and papers to voters who are bed-bound.
There are 31 nursing homes that will be piloting this programme, affecting about 4,000 voters. They are: Bright Hill Evergreen Home, Bukit Batok Care Home, ECON Care Residence (Henderson), Grace Lodge, Ju Eng Home for Senior Citizens,. Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital @ Potong Pasir, MWS Bethany Nursing Home, NTUC Health (Chai Chee), NTUC Health (Geylang East), NTUC Health (Jurong Spring), NTUC Health (Jurong West), NTUC Health (Pasir Ris), NTUC Health (Tampines), Orange Valley Nursing Home (Clementi), Orange Valley Nursing Home (Marsiling), Orange Valley Nursing Home (Simei), Pacific Healthcare Nursing Home II,. Ren Ci @ Ang Mo Kio (Nursing Home), Ren Ci @ Bukit Batok St. 52 (Nursing Home), Senja Care Home, SNM Nursing Home @ Chong Pang, Society for the Aged Sick, St Joseph’s Home, St. Andrew’s Nursing Home (Henderson), St. Andrew’s Nursing Home (Queenstown), St. John’s – St. Margaret’s Nursing Home, Tampines Care Home, The Salvation Army, Peacehaven Nursing Home, THK Nursing Home @ Hougang , Woodlands Care Home.
Overseas Singaporeans can vote by post
This March also saw laws passed in Parliament to allow Singaporeans living overseas to cast their votes by post.
The Elections Department (ELD) announced on Wednesday (23 August) that for this presidential election, a total of 6,649 Singaporeans have successfully registered as overseas voters. Of these voters, 3,432 of them will be voting by post.
Postal voters have been notified to download their postal ballot paper and return envelope using Singpass from ELD’s voter services website.
The return envelope containing the marked postal ballot paper must be postmarked before 1 September, and reach the custody of the returning officer in Singapore by 11 September to be accepted for counting.
Overseas voters who have registered to vote at an overseas polling station have been sent their ePoll letter indicating the polling date and polling hours for their overseas polling station.
If the overseas voter is back in Singapore on Polling Day, he may vote at his allotted polling station in Singapore. At the polling station, the voter will have to declare that he has not already voted in the same election before being issued a ballot paper for voting.
Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube.
