Just scan IC to register to vote for president
Registering to vote at the presidential election, due next month, will be as simple as scan-and-go for some Singaporeans, who will get to try out a new electronic registration system.
The Elections Department (ELD) said yesterday that the new system, which officials will use to scan the barcodes on voters' identity cards, will be piloted at Chua Chu Kang GRC, Tanjong Pagar GRC and Yuhua SMC.
This means voters in these areas can expect a shorter wait if they go to vote next month.
With the electronic system, officials will no longer have to manually search for and strike off names of voters on printed copies of the polling station register.
But they must still check the voter's identity against his identity card.
The ELD said the new system will halve the number of officials needed to record attendance, compared with the pen-and-paper system.
Voting, however, will still be done by marking paper ballots with a pen.
The trial is part of efforts to review election procedures to improve voter experience and efficiency, said the ELD, which plans to roll out the system islandwide after testing it.
The trial will cover about 10 per cent of voters across 98 polling stations, to capture a sufficiently large sample size.
The three constituencies were chosen to provide a mix of polling station types - such as schools and void decks - and voters across age groups and housing types, the ELD said.
It will organise roadshows at 11 community centres in the three constituencies from today to Sept 10 for people to try out the new system.
The election is reserved for Malay candidates.
Former Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, and businessmen Farid Khan and Salleh Marican intend to contest the presidency.
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