About 200 Voters Who Voted in Last GE Can’t Vote in PE Due to Scanning Issue

If you ever feel bad about yourself, do not.

Even the government, with all their poise and passion, can have mix-ups. Much less other people in the world.

The latest issue plaguing the government is their inability to let certain eligible voters vote during the upcoming Presidential Elections.

The issue is supposedly that these voters did not have their identification card properly scanned at the previous elections opportunity and hence were taken off the eligible voters list.

Here is more about this mix up.

About 200 Voters Are Unable to Vote in Current Presidential Elections Because of Wrong Records

We all know that there is an additional upcoming public holiday on 1 September 2023 (next Friday) because of the Presidential Elections.

However, it’s not just a holiday where you get to laze around. You have to go to your designated polling station and cast your votes for who will be the next figurehead of Singapore.

That said, it may very well be a senang (translates to “carefree”) holiday for those who don’t need to vote.

And the reason behind that is not on them. Apparently, there are issues with the voter list for this round of voting for about 200 people.

Their names are not reflected on the eligible voters list because the records show that they did not vote in the previous elections (General Elections 2020).

But these people allegedly did vote at the previous elections.

As it turns out, the mix-up was because of these voters’ identity cards not being captured by the electronic registration devices at the polling stations.

So, these voters did not manage to “mark their attendance” and hence were taken off the list of voters.

More Sensitive Scanners Will Be Deployed for Future Elections

What is the Elections Department (ELD) going to do about this?

The Straits Times reported that the ELD issued a statement clarifying this scenario and said that for “PE2023, more sensitive electronic registration devices will be deployed”.

Hopefully, this avoids any mix-ups in the future.

The good thing is that the ELD is also taking steps to contact the affected voters to restore their names after Polling Day.

To ensure that you are not ensnared in such mix-ups, it is also good practice to check your name on the list of non-voters published after each election so you can take steps to restore your name if needed.

And for this PE2023, make sure you see the staff at the polling station scan your card before you leave!