SINGAPORE: When the Elections Department announced updated voter rolls and released the election map earlier this week, it gave rise to speculation about the timing of the General Election.
The next GE must be held before Nov 23, 2025, although rumours have been circulating that it could be held as early as this September.
On Tuesday (June 18), the ELD announced that from June 19 to Jul 2, Singaporeans can check if they are eligible to vote in the upcoming GE. A dozen polling districts were also published on the ELD’s website on the same day.
Over on Reddit, platform users joined in on speculating over dates, although a bigger step toward the GE, convening the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), has yet to be taken.
A commenter on a Reddit post on the topic gave their two cents by publishing the timeline toward the GE held in 2020. u/illiterate-populist wrote that the polling districts were released on May 12 of that year.
Polling districts for 12 districts has been released
byu/HamsterHeadCurry insingapore
On the next day, the Electoral Boundaries Report was released.
This was followed by the certification of registers of electors on April 15, the Writ of Election issued on June 23, and the actual Polling Day on July 10.
“Let’s see if the electoral boundaries report will be out this week,” the Reddit user added.
If the timeline for the next GE is the same as that for 2020, the election could be held in September. Another commenter said, however, that it could also be held in March next year, after the Chinese New Year holidays.
Having the polls in September or October, when children in Singapore have exams, would be tricky, as this is a busy time for the teachers who work during Polling Day.
Additionally, waiting until then to have the election would give Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who has only been in office since May 15, “a ‘year’ to prove himself.”
As one pointed out, Mr Wong hasn’t even finished his first 100 days. But a commenter presented a counter-argument to this, saying that holding the GE earlier rather than later was a “logical move.”
In another Reddit post, commenters said they also felt that the election was coming soon. Still, one Reddit user cautioned against getting too ahead, writing:
“Before anyone says election (is) coming, electoral boundaries haven’t been updated yet. Although in theory the gov could call an election based on existing boundaries, in practice they would redraw the boundaries before the next election.” /TISG
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