PM Lee has issued an order to the Election department's Registration Officer to revise the Register of Electors by March 31st 2014.
This means that the list of voters in each constituency will be revised and with it, it is possible that some Gerrymandering (the re-drawing of constituency boundaries) may occur.
The Register of Electors is a list of all the eligible voters in a constituency. In Singapore the boundaries of constituencies are decided by the Prime Minister.
Each constituency has its own register of electors that lists the particulars of every single eligible voter in that constituency. By conducting a revision of the Register of Electors, some people may be moved from one constituency to another.
According to the Parliamentary Elections Act, the PM can order the Registration Officer to revise the register of electors no later than 3 years after the last General Eelction.
The last GE was held on 7th May 2011, so PM Lee is acting within his power, but it is also possible that with this power, he can re-draw some of the constituency boundaries in the PAP's favour.
For example, if there are a lot of opposition voters in the east part of Singapore near the WP held Aljunied, Hougang or Punggol East constituencies, the PM could decide to re-zone some of the opposition favouring estates into the WP held wards so that their votes will not impact neighbouring PAP held wards.
By grouping more opposition supporters together in a few wards, the PAP can preserve their share of votes in other, neighbouring constituencies and ensure that they can still comfortably win those.
The Elections department has responded to the PM's order for revision saying that the newly revised Register of Electors will be available for public inspection from the 17th of February.
From then the public will have 2 weeks to check the records and make any applications for changes to the register before the lists are finalised and published.
Members of the public can inspect the registers of electors at the inspection centres, such as the Elections Department, Community Centres/Clubs, or through the online facility available at the Elections Department website. During the 2 weeks that the registers are open for inspection:
any person who considers that he is entitled to have his name entered in a register of electors for any electoral division and whose name has been omitted from the register may apply to the Registration Officer to have his name entered therein (referred to as a claimant); and
any person whose name appears in the register for any electoral division may object to the inclusion in the register of his own name or the name of any other person appearing or may object to the insertion in the register of the name of any claimant (referred to as an objector).
PAP suffered the worst election results since independence in the last GE in 2011 and with the way that Singapore has been headed since then, many are observing that their vote share may slide even further in 2016.
Perhaps the PM is aware of this and is attempting to redraw the electoral boundaries in order to try and preserve as many of their seats as possible in the next elections due by 2016.
This means that the list of voters in each constituency will be revised and with it, it is possible that some Gerrymandering (the re-drawing of constituency boundaries) may occur.
The Register of Electors is a list of all the eligible voters in a constituency. In Singapore the boundaries of constituencies are decided by the Prime Minister.
Each constituency has its own register of electors that lists the particulars of every single eligible voter in that constituency. By conducting a revision of the Register of Electors, some people may be moved from one constituency to another.
According to the Parliamentary Elections Act, the PM can order the Registration Officer to revise the register of electors no later than 3 years after the last General Eelction.
The last GE was held on 7th May 2011, so PM Lee is acting within his power, but it is also possible that with this power, he can re-draw some of the constituency boundaries in the PAP's favour.
For example, if there are a lot of opposition voters in the east part of Singapore near the WP held Aljunied, Hougang or Punggol East constituencies, the PM could decide to re-zone some of the opposition favouring estates into the WP held wards so that their votes will not impact neighbouring PAP held wards.
By grouping more opposition supporters together in a few wards, the PAP can preserve their share of votes in other, neighbouring constituencies and ensure that they can still comfortably win those.
The Elections department has responded to the PM's order for revision saying that the newly revised Register of Electors will be available for public inspection from the 17th of February.
From then the public will have 2 weeks to check the records and make any applications for changes to the register before the lists are finalised and published.
Members of the public can inspect the registers of electors at the inspection centres, such as the Elections Department, Community Centres/Clubs, or through the online facility available at the Elections Department website. During the 2 weeks that the registers are open for inspection:
any person who considers that he is entitled to have his name entered in a register of electors for any electoral division and whose name has been omitted from the register may apply to the Registration Officer to have his name entered therein (referred to as a claimant); and
any person whose name appears in the register for any electoral division may object to the inclusion in the register of his own name or the name of any other person appearing or may object to the insertion in the register of the name of any claimant (referred to as an objector).
PAP suffered the worst election results since independence in the last GE in 2011 and with the way that Singapore has been headed since then, many are observing that their vote share may slide even further in 2016.
Perhaps the PM is aware of this and is attempting to redraw the electoral boundaries in order to try and preserve as many of their seats as possible in the next elections due by 2016.
