General election Singapore things to know
Many of us have caught election fever, with GE2025’s polling day recently announced to take place on 3rd May 2025. We’re hearing the word “election” in every conversation, and seeing it all over the news.
But with a myriad of news come a myriad of questions. For example: “What to do if I’m travelling during election day?”. Whether you’re a first-time voter or an experienced one, we’ve got you covered with these lesser-known election facts that’ll answer burning questions that seem too silly to ask:
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- General election Singapore things to know
- 1. What if I am overseas on election day?
- 2. Why do we mark our votes with a “X” rather than a tick?
- 3. It is an offence to discourage anyone from voting
- 4. How do blind people vote?
- 5. What to do if you’ve accidentally voted wrongly?
- 6. Which address do I follow if I just moved house?
- 7. All candidates’ social media posts are tracked
1. What if I am overseas on election day?
Election day is happening on a Saturday – even so, some of us might be unable to make it. Much like missing school, eligible voters who didn’t attend the polling can be split into 2 categories – those with valid reasons and those without.
Valid reasons for missing Polling Day include:
- An overseas vacation that was planned before the poll was announced
- Hospitalisation – including illness and childbirth
- Working or studying overseas during polling day
- Being in jail
- Being in a drug rehabilitation centre
- Being in quarantine
- Feeling sick
Regardless of reason, your name will be pulled off the register as long as you’ve missed a vote, meaning you won’t be able to vote in the next election unless you restore your name. But don’t worry, this can be easily fixed by reapplying on the Voter Services page on ELD.
Restoration is free if you have a valid reason. However, if you don’t, you’ll have to fork out $50 to do so – a small price to pay to regain the right to vote.
GE2025 has VoteQ, which is a website that shows you the number of people in line at your allotted polling station. This website will be updated every 5-10minutes so be sure to check it before heading down to avoid long waits in line. Queues are generally longer in the morning!
2. Why do we mark our votes with a “X” rather than a tick?
Through years of education in school, we’ve learned that the sign “X” means that something is wrong, carrying the idea of rejection. So it might seem counterintuitive that we’re supposed to mark our votes with an “X” rather than say, a tick, underline or circle.
Image credit: Parliamentary Elections Act
Hilariously, enough people have been so perplexed by this that the Elections Department Singapore (ELD) put up an official answer on their FAQ page. But it’s not that complicated of an explanation, really.
“X” is simply used because it’s the most commonly known way to mark a choice, internationally used in countries like the UK and Canada. So to avoid any sort of confusion during this very important poll, the ELD standardised the use of a cross to mark our choice in candidates.
3. It is an offence to discourage anyone from voting
It’s completely all right to discuss politics with your friends. Ramble all you want about your favourite politicians, from Ong Ye Kung to Jamus Lim.
But if there’s one thing you need to watch your tongue for, it’s discouraging others from voting. As long as you’re eligible, voting during general elections is compulsory. So by extension, it’s an offence to dissuade another person from voting during the election – whether it’s verbally, via DM, or through a post on your IG story.
4. How do blind people vote?
Voting is supposed to be confidential, even within your own family. So that begs the question: what about the less-abled? Can the visually-impaired vote?
Here’s the answer: The visually-impaired get the exact same slips that we all do at the polling stations. However, to help them vote independently, their slips are placed in a stencil with square-shaped cut-outs that indicate where they’re supposed to mark their choice instead.
An election official will also be around to help read out the names of the candidates in order, before leaving the voter alone to make his or her choice.
5. What to do if you’ve accidentally voted wrongly?
Image credit: @silly_dilly_hill_billy via Instagram
Maybe you’re too nervous, or maybe you’ve had a brain fart. But if you’ve somehow marked your vote for the wrong candidate, or accidentally scribbled outside of the checkboxes, all is not lost. You don’t have to live with the fact that you voted for the wrong candidate for the next 5 years.
The presiding officer can replace your spoilt ballot paper with another, cancelling the original. You’ll have to provide a reason though – and whether or not the officer will be amused by your brain fart is another matter.
6. Which address do I follow if I just moved house?
Moving homes can be disorienting – you’ll have to get used to a new space, deal with displaced belongings, and when it comes to elections, you may also get a little confused about which constituency you now fall under.
1st February 2025 is the date that the latest Registers of Electors was compiled. So if you’ve moved and changed your address after the date, you’ll have to, unfortunately, head to the polling station tied to your previous address. If you’ve moved before that, good for you – you can vote under your current constituent.
Check your voting details on the Elections Department of Singapore website.
Image adapted from: @nicoleseah.sg, @myt_grc via Instagram
Candidates have a whole set of rules to follow when it comes to election campaigns, but one rather intriguing one is that they have to track and report all their online election advertising activities. Every promotional activity done has to be declared, even on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Zoom. And we say social media is stressful.
Snippet from Ong Ye Kung’s video, which has since been taken down.
Image credit: MustShareNews
But that isn’t all – media restrictions are also made very tight between Nomination Day and Polling Day. You may have already heard of restricted air times on mainstream media – but that’s far from the only clause in the rulebook.
General election facts
GE2025 is going to be an exciting one with new constituencies and candidates. Now, with these facts that are hopefully useful – or at the very least, fun to know – you’ll be more equipped to vote in the upcoming general elections.
Also check out these articles that will help with adulting:
Cover image adapted from: @silly_dilly_hill_billy via Instagram, TheSmartLocal
Originally published on 7th July 2020. Last updated on 15th April 2025.