The stage is set for Singapore to elect a new president out of the three final candidates — former Singapore Deputy Prime Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 66; former chief investment officer at sovereign wealth fund GIC, Ng Kok Song, 75; and former chief executive of insurer NTUC Income, Tan Kin Lian, 75 — announced by the Elections Department (ELD). The application of another presidential aspirant, businessman George Goh, for a Certificate of Eligibility was not approved by the ELD.
The department has announced today that, as of now, a total of 6,649 overseas Singaporeans have registered to vote in the presidential elections, to be held on September 1, 2023, Singapore time 8am-8pm. Of these, 3,432 overseas Singaporeans will vote by post, and 3,217 will vote in-person at overseas polling stations.
Polling stations for overseas Singaporeans are located in the following world cities: Beijing, Canberra, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Washington D.C.
Voting by post
Overseas Singaporeans who want to vote by post will get an official notification from the ELD to download their postal ballot paper and the return envelope. The download is available from the ELD’s Voter Services at https://www.eld.gov.sg using Singpass.
The return envelope containing the marked postal ballot paper must be postmarked before September 1, 2023 (Polling Day), and the postal ballot must reach the Returning Officer in Singapore by September 11, 2023, in order to be accepted for counting.
The ELD asks the registered overseas voters to download their ballot, mark it, and post it to Singapore with enough of a time buffer, so that their votes do not get delayed in transit.
Voting at overseas polling stations
Overseas Singaporeans who want to vote at an overseas polling station should have received by now an e-Poll letter, indicating the polling date and polling hours for their overseas polling station.
A copy of this e-Poll letter is available online at the ELD’s Voter Services at https://www.eld.gov.sg using Singpass.
Registered overseas voters returning to Singapore on Polling Day
Overseas Singaporeans who have registered for voting and would be in Singapore on Polling Day can vote at their allotted polling station in Singapore.
Details of their allotted polling station in Singapore are in the poll card, which will be sent to their registered Singapore NRIC address or local contact address. They can also find these details on their e-Poll card, which is available on the Singpass app and the ELD’s Voter Services at https://www.eld.gov.sg using Singpass from now until Polling Day.
Voter declaration
At the polling station, voters will have to declare that they have not already cast a vote in the same election, before being issued a ballot paper for voting.