Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has convened the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), the Elections Department (ELD) announced on Wednesday (Jan 22).

The committee has been directed to review current electoral division boundaries and recommend the number and boundaries of Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) for the upcoming elections.

This review will consider population shifts and housing developments in current electoral divisions, which have impacted the number of electors in certain areas.

EBRC has also been directed to seek to keep the average size of GRCs, the proportion of MPs elected from SMCs, and the average ratio of electors to elected MPs, all at about the same as that in the last General Election.

The committee is now in the midst of its deliberations and will make its recommendations to PM Wong when it has completed its review.

Secretary to the Prime Minister Tan Kee Yong chairs the committee, which includes Singapore Land Authority chief executive Colin Low, Housing Board chief executive Tan Meng Dui and chief statistician Koh Eng Chuan, as well as ELD head Lim Zhi Yang as its secretary.

Revision of Registers of Electors

ELD also announced on Wednesday that PM Wong has directed the Registration Officer to revise the Registers of Electors before April 1 so that they are up to date.

Any person who, as of Feb 1, is a Singapore citizen, 21 years of age and above, not disqualified from being an elector under any prevailing law, and has a Singapore residential address or a local contact address registered with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority for voting purposes will be included in the Register of Electors for an electoral division.

The revised Registers of Electors will be open for public inspection in February. More details on how Singaporeans can check the Registers of Electors will be provided by ELD when they are open for public inspection.

No fixed timeline for EBRC report

With past EBRC reports being released between two and seven months after the committee was formed, there is no certain timeframe for it to be submitted this year.

Once the EBRC report is released, Parliament will be dissolved by the President upon the advice of the PM. He will then direct the Returning Officer to issue a Writ of Election.

The shortest period between the EBRC report's release and the dissolution of Parliament has been one day, which occurred ahead of the 2001 General Election.

EBRC was last convened in August 2019, ahead of GE2020, when it was directed to reduce the average size of GRCs and create more SMCs.

The committee completed its report in March 2020, three months ahead of the general election which was called in June. There were no six-member GRCs for the first time since 1991, as Ang Mo Kio and Pasir Ris-Punggol were reduced to having five MPs each.

The next general election must be held by November 2025.

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com

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