The Singapore General Elections for 2025 are over, and it is the most talked-about election on social media yet. But while we are in the biggest age of the internet thus far, there are still some lingering questions that people have that have answers that are a little harder to find.
We’ve listed a couple of intriguing questions that people may have for the General Elections in Singapore, and provided the answers to them here! Some of them are pretty interesting.
Are prisoners allowed to vote?
The short answer to this is no.
According to section 6(1)(b) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, anyone who is convicted of a criminal offence and currently serving their sentence is removed from the Register of Electors—thus, making them ineligible to vote in the General Elections while in prison.
Part of the reason why this is the case is that there are no voting facilities available in the prison. At this moment, it is not feasible for such facilities to be built in prison due to safety, security and operational concerns.
But thankfully, this isn’t permanent. Once a prisoner has served their sentence, they can apply to the Elections Department to have their name restored to the Register of Electors.
What happens to the forfeited election deposit?
According to the FAQ section found on the Election Department Singapore website, the forfeited deposit “will be paid into the Consolidated Fund”. So that’s the short answer. The long answer lies in what the Consolidated Fund actually is.
The official Parliament of Singapore website describes the Consolidated Fund as something similar to the Government’s bank account, where all revenues of Singapore are paid unless specifically allocated by law to other purposes. The Fund itself consists of two main accounts. One of them is the Consolidated Revenue Account, which contains all government monies. The other is the Consolidated Loan Account, which holds monies that are received by way of loans on the public credit of Singapore. In this case, the forfeited deposit would fall under the former.
Officially, the Minister for Finance is the person who manages it, and any government expenditures are paid using the monies from the Consolidated Fund—such as government operations and public services. Some immediate examples of the money used from the Consolidated Fund include subsidies for lower-income families and the recent CDC vouchers provided by the government. Additionally, you might remember the fund being used to help with stabilising Singapore amid the COVID-19 crisis.
So, while the money may have been lost by the losing candidates, there is some solace in knowing that it will go towards helping the country.
Are chronically ill or bedridden patients exempt from voting?
No, people with chronic illnesses or who are bedridden are still required to vote; the Parliamentary Elections Act does not disqualify individuals based on physical or mental disability.
So, if that is the case, how does the voting process happen for these people?
Well, in general, all polling stations are already readily equipped to help accommodate less-abled voters. There is barrier-free access to the stations, as well as priority queuing and wheelchairs available for those who require them. Polling booths with lower desks are also found within the stations for wheelchair users to take advantage of. Plus, stencils are provided for voters with visual impairments to independently mark their ballots.
If there is a situation where a voter cannot mark the ballots themselves, there are election officials who can assist them to do so. While that calls into question the integrity of the election process, officials are under oath to maintain the secrecy of your vote.
What about bedridden patients and nursing home residents, then? Well, the situation is a little different.
Initially, in the 2023 Presidential Election, mobile polling stations were piloted at 31 nursing homes, allowing residents—including those who are bedridden—to vote from within the nursing home premises. Two setups were used – On-site polling stations for those who could move around, and mobile polling teams made up of election officials that brought ballot boxes and papers directly to bedridden residents’ bedside.
However, this special arrangement has since been discontinued. A few reasons were laid out: One, there was a high proportion of rejected votes due to blank ballots compared to the regular polling stations (15.3% at nursing homes vs. 2% generally). Two, it was found that many residents had limited mental capacity and could not understand the voting process. Three, there were operational challenges and issues with resource intensity. And lastly, the increased complexity of managing the polling agents and voting secrecy was hard to account for in multiple electoral divisions.
At this moment, nursing home residents—including those who are bedridden—are required to vote at their allotted public polling stations as before. But there may be a chance this changes ahead of future elections.
Be sure to check out our coverage of the 2025 General Elections in Singapore, including key dates of the election, what manifestos each party was promoting, and who were the eventual winners in their respective constituencies.
Cover visual courtesy of Zachary Ocampo.
