SINGAPORE: Voting hours at polling stations in Singapore have been extended to 10pm “so that voters can cast their votes”, said the Elections Department (ELD) on Friday (Jul 10).
Voting in Singapore’s 13th General Election was originally scheduled to end at 8pm.
“In exercise of his powers under section 39(3) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, the Returning Officer has extended the polling hours of polling stations in Singapore except polling stations in SHN (stay-home notice) designated facilities,” said ELD in a press release.
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“These polling stations will remain open until 10pm so that voters can cast their votes. While the queue situation across most polling stations has improved, a small number continue to see long queues. This extension in hours will allow enough time for all voters to cast their votes,” added the press release.
Voters forming a queue to enter the polling station at Bukit Merah Secondary School on Jul 10, 2020. (Photo: Ruth Smalley)
A special voting hour between 7pm and 8pm had been set aside for voters on stay-home notice at home, on medical certificate for acute respiratory infection, or those with a fever of 37.5 degrees Celsius and above.
ELD said these voters can cast their vote as planned at polling stations which have no queue.
“For polling stations which still have long queues, election officials will ask SVH (special voting hour) voters to identify themselves and will isolate them in a separate holding area,” said ELD.
“This is to prevent this group of voters from mixing with other voters.”
ELD added: “Once the queue has cleared, election officials will then arrange for SVH voters to vote.”
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Special-voting hour voters are also “strongly urged” to check the queue situation for their polling station at VoteQ.gowhere.gov.sg.
“If the queue is long, we urge you to only arrive at the polling station at 9pm. Otherwise, SVH voters may have to wait a long time to cast their vote,” said ELD.
LONG QUEUES
Earlier on Friday, long lines were seen at several polling centres across Singapore, with queues snaking outside many polling stations.
Some seniors in the queue were given chairs to sit on while waiting.
Benches were set up for elderly residents who had to queue to get into the polling station at Bukit Merah Secondary School on Jul 10, 2020. (Photo: Sim Yee Lim)
ELD apologised to voters on Friday afternoon and said that it had done away with the requirement to wear disposable gloves at polling stations, as this contributed to long waiting times.
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It said in a statement that “more voters had turned up this morning than expected outside their assigned voting time-bands”.
“This, together with measures that had been put in place to ensure safe voting, had led to long queues,” ELD added.
As of 5pm, 81 per cent of registered voters – more than 2.1 million people – have cast their ballots in Singapore.
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