Voters can check which constituency they now belong to

Voters can now check which constituency they belong to, following the revision of the electoral boundaries that was made public last Friday.

They can do so in person, with their identity cards, at community clubs and centres or the Elections Department (ELD) building at 11, Prinsep Link, or online at www.eld.gov.sg, the department said yesterday.

At the same time, they can check their personal particulars to ensure they match those on their identity cards, which must be shown for voting on Polling Day.

The updated rolls have 2,460,977 Singaporeans registered to vote - about 500 more than the number given in February - in the general election that is widely expected to be held in the coming months.

Some one in five voters, or 19 per cent of them, will be in a new constituency as a result of the boundary changes.

There are 16 Group Representation Constituencies and 13 Single Member Constituencies .

The registers of voters are based on records as of Feb 1 this year. People who have not turned 21 years old on this date will not be eligible to vote.

Similarly, a voter's constituency will be based on his or her address as of Feb 1. Those who have moved subsequently to a new address will have to cast their votes in the constituencies where they used to live.

In the 2011 election, the ELD sent the poll cards of voters to the last-known address on their identity card before Polling Day.

Those whose names have been removed from the voter rolls for failing to vote in a previous election may apply to have their names restored, the ELD said in its statement. No application will be accepted once the writ of election, a legal document that sets the election process in motion, is issued, it added.

Overseas Singaporeans whose names are on the voter rolls can register as overseas voters at one of the 10 registration centres abroad: Canberra, London, Tokyo, Beijing, Washington, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai, San Francisco and New York.

They must have resided in Singapore for a total of at least 30 days between Feb 1, 2012, and Jan 31 this year.

Registration for overseas voting can be done until the writ of election is issued, which will happen after Parliament is dissolved.

The writ will specify when Nomination Day is, which must be no earlier than five days and no later than one month after the writ is issued. Nomination Day is also the first day of the campaign period, which must be at least nine days.

This is followed by Cooling-Off Day, when no campaigning is allowed, and then Polling Day.

The updated rolls have 2,460,977 Singaporeans registered to vote - about 500 more than the number given in February - in the general election... Some one in five voters, or 19 per cent of them, will be in a new constituency as a result of the boundary changes.

This article was first published on July 28, 2015.
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