GE2020: 840,000 voters have cast their ballots as of 12pm; ELD apologises for longer than usual queues in the morning

SINGAPORE — As of noon on Friday (July 10), 840,000 voters have cast their ballots at polling stations in Singapore, the Elections Department Singapore (ELD) said.

That is about 31 per cent of registered voters here, ELD said in an interim update. 

In comparison, about 1.15 million people had voted by noon during the 2015 General Election (GE).

This GE, voters have been given recommended time bands due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with those aged 65 years and above recommended to vote between 8am and 12pm.

Earlier on Friday, ELD said that it had observed “longer than usual queues” in some polling stations in the morning after polls were opened at 8am. 

It urged younger voters to keep to their assigned voting time bands after 12pm.

About 2.65 million Singaporeans are eligible to vote in this election.

ELD APOLOGISES FOR LONG QUEUES

In a statement at about 1.15pm on Friday, ELD apologised for the long queues in the morning. 

It said that more voters had turned up than expected in the morning “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,” it said. 

The requirement for voters to wear disposable gloves, for example, contributed to the longer than usual voting times, it added.

It has since done away with that step, since “voters would already be required to sanitise their hands”.

“Gloves are still available for voters who would like to use both sanitiser and gloves,” it said. 

“We seek the understanding of all voters and advise voters to keep to their assigned time bands where possible to avoid crowding. We would also like to remind all voters to continue to practise safe distancing,” it added.