More than half of 6,649 registered overseas voters to try new postal voting for presidential election
There are 6,649 registered overseas voters for the upcoming presidential election, out of more than 185,000 Singaporeans living overseas.
Of these, 3,432 have decided to try postal voting, which will be used for the first time in an election here.
The remaining 3,217 will be voting at one of 10 overseas polling stations.
Overseas voters will account for about 0.25 per cent of 2,709,407 voters registered for this election.
The Elections Department (ELD) said on Wednesday postal voters have been notified to download their postal ballot paper and return envelope from ELD’s voter services function on its website using the Singpass log-in.
Postal voters are encouraged to mail the envelope back early.
The envelope containing the marked postal ballot paper must be postmarked before Polling Day on Sept 1.
It must reach the custody of the Returning Officer in Singapore by Sept 11 to be accepted for counting.
For those registered to vote at overseas polling stations, they have been sent their ePoll letter indicating the polling date and hours for their station.
A copy of this letter is also accessible on ELD’s website using Singpass.
The 10 overseas polling stations are in Beijing, Canberra, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo and Washington, DC.
ELD said if overseas voters – whether by post or at the stations – are back in Singapore on Polling Day, they may vote at their designated polling station here.
The details of this polling station are included in the physical poll card, which will be sent to voters’ registered address on their Singapore NRIC, or their local contact address.
It can also be found on the voter’s ePoll card, which is accessible now on the Singpass app and ELD website till Polling Day.
At the polling station on Sept 1, the voter will have to declare that he has not already voted in the same election, before he can be issued a ballot paper.
Every overseas voter is allowed to vote only once during an election, either overseas or at a designated polling station in Singapore, said ELD.
There were 5,504 registered overseas voters in the 2011 presidential election, of which 3,375 eventually cast their ballots in nine cities.
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