6.5k overseas S'poreans wrongly e-mailed about successful overseas voting registration

Source: The Straits Times
Author: Samuel Devaraj

SINGAPORE - About 6,500 Singaporeans living overseas received an erroneous e-mail from the Elections Department (ELD) on May 24 informing them that they had successfully registered to vote from abroad.

The e-mail seen by The Straits Times stated that the recipient's application "to register as an overseas elector" had been approved.

The e-mails were sent to individuals who had earlier applied to be overseas electors due to a programming glitch, an ELD spokesperson said on May 26 in response to queries from ST.

"There was no data compromised and all these overseas Singaporeans were informed on the same day to disregard the e-mail," said the spokesperson, adding that the error has since been rectified.

Singapore citizens residing abroad may apply to register as an overseas elector all-year round.

The ELD said on May 20 that Singapore's voter rolls are being updated and will be open for public inspection in June.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has directed that the Registers of Electors, which will contain the names of all Singapore citizens who qualify to be electors as at June 1, be revised before July 31.

The exercise comes ahead of a general election that must be held by November 2025.

Previous hiccups related to the voting process include an incident in 2020 where 101 overseas Singaporeans did not get to vote in the general election as a result of a glitch in the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority's system.

In 2023, residents of more than 4,800 households in Tanjong Pagar received two poll cards ahead of the presidential election due to an error made by the appointed printer.