Shorter wait for results at the next GE, with machines deployed to count votes

SINGAPORE — Voters may receive polling results more quickly at the next General Election (GE), thanks to mechanical counting machines that will process hardcopy ballot papers.

The counting machines, similar to those used to handle and count banknotes, will speed up the counting process and raise efficiency, the Elections Department (ELD) said on Thursday (Nov 22).

Voters will also be registered electronically for the first time at the next election, which is due by April 2021.

To register at polling stations, they will have their national registration identity cards scanned.

The new machines will not be connected to the Internet and are “not electronic voting machines”, and hardcopy ballot papers will continue to be used at the election. 

Both measures are to improve the electoral process and voter experience, said the ELD, in the latest signs that preparation for the GE is kicking up a notch.

They could also lead to a reduced need for manpower further down the road.

Counting assistants will first mix, unfold and sort ballot papers into different stacks for each candidate or group of candidates, based on voters’ choice. The assistant returning officer will adjudicate in cases where the intent of voters on the ballot paper is unclear.

These practices will remain, but counting assistants will use the machines to tally the ballot papers into bundles of 100, before passing on the pile to another assistant for verification using another counting machine.

This bundling process is now done manually, but machines could help cut the sorting and counting process from three hours to about two, the ELD said.

Sample counts providing an early indication of the outcome — introduced in the last GE in 2015 to curtail speculation and rumours — could also be sped up.

In 2015, the first sample count emerged around 9.40pm, less than two hours after polls closed at 8pm.

That year, Aljunied Group Representation Constituency was the last constituency for which final results were declared, at about 3am the next day.

The ELD is looking to lease the counting machines from its existing logistics vendor. Some 2,700 machines will be deployed at 170 or so counting centres.

The department plans to demonstrate the new initiatives to the political parties in the third quarter of next year.

A tender for the electronic registration system will be called by the end of this month, and is expected to be awarded by the first quarter of next year. The system will then undergo development and tests, and be ready by the end of the second quarter of 2019, the ELD said.

Currently, election officials have to find and strike out a voter’s name from a hardcopy polling station register. To secure the electronic registration system from cyber attacks, the electronic version of the register will be loaded onto “standalone devices” that will not be connected to any network, said the ELD.

The new initiatives could also cut the reliance on manpower. For instance, each polling station will have personnel manning two electronic registration counters, instead of up to four previously.

The department, however, has not decided on the extent to which it will reduce the number of election personnel on the ground. “We are also mindful that this is the first time we are (rolling out these initiatives and) must make sure that it has to be efficient,” the department added.

By the second quarter of next year, the ELD will also complete other procurement activities. These include the supply of buses to ferry election officials, electoral documents and other items, and information and communications technology-related infrastructure to support operational needs in the election.

On the timing of the procurement activities, a spokesperson said: “Typically, ELD commences preparation for the next election after the completion of the after-action review of the last election.”

The ELD’s announcement on Thursday comes after Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Sunday that fourth-generation leaders were aiming to complete visits to all constituencies — including opposition-held ones — in the next 12 to 18 months.

Earlier this month, at the biennial conference of the ruling People’s Action Party, secretary-general Lee Hsien Loong, who is also the prime minister, said the party had "only two years left" to prepare for the next election.

AT A GLANCE: TIME SAVINGS FROM E-REGISTRATION AND COUNTING MACHINES

80 per cent: The potential cut in time taken for registration at a polling station, from 10 seconds to a mere two seconds.

Up to 80 minutes: The cut in time taken to process and count 4,000 ballot papers. It takes counting assistants slightly over a minute to tally votes in bundles of 100 using the machines. This is faster than the manual process, which takes about 3.5 minutes. So, the time taken to process and count a batch of 4,000 ballot papers from a polling station could be trimmed by up to one hour and 20 minutes.