This is the official process of how your votes are counted and
then destroy.
Why are your name and IC number read aloud?
1) A voter queues for his or her turn to vote. The returning
officer will then call out the name and NRIC number of the voter
and verify his/her identity. He will then present the voter with a
ballot paper. The voter will then proceed to the balloting booth to
cast his vote.
Calling out the voters name and NRIC in public will enable the
polling agents of the Workers Party and PAP at the polling centre
to note and to prevent the same voter from attempting to vote more
than once. The serial numbers behind the ballots are there to
ensure that every ballot paper is accounted for, so as to prevent
the possibility of any fraud.
2) After the polling has closed, all the ballot boxes are then be
sealed with specially made security seals in the presence of the
polling agents from all the contesting parties. The boxes are then
transported under police surveillance to the designated counting
centres, witnessed by the representatives of the contesting
parties.
How do you know your vote is counted?
3) Upon reaching the designated counting centre, the counting
agents from the Workers Party and PAP will gather at the main
counting area, with the counters (civil servants from different
government departments) sitting at open counting tables. The
counting agents will then inspect the ballot boxes and when they
are satisfied that the boxes have not been tempered with, these
boxes would be opened and the ballots poured out onto the counting
tables, under the close supervision of the counting agents.
(Counting agents are not allowed to touch the ballot papers.)
4) The counting of the votes then begins. The counters will stack
the voting slips on the counting table. Each candidate will have
his/her own stacks, in bundles of 100 votes each. Spoilt votes and
disputable votes will be placed aside.
5) Upon completion of the counting process, a tabulation of the
votes is done at the counting tables. If any of the counting agents
is dissatisfied with the initial count, he or she can request for a
recount. Otherwise the returning officer will do the final
tabulation of the results and declare the winner of the electoral
contest.
What will happen to the Ballot papers after the Election?
6) After this, all the ballot papers, including the unused ballot
papers, will be tallied against the total number issued per
constituency. Then together with the voting and counting documents,
they are then gathered and placed into the boxes, in the presence
of the counting agents from all the contesting parties. The boxes
are then sealed with the specially made security seals, which are
temper proof. In addition, counting agents may sign their names
over the seals to further reinforce the secrecy of the
ballots.
7) Once the sealing and signing are done, the boxes are then
transported under police escort to the Supreme Court Vault for a
storage period of 6 months and the key to the vault is handed to a
judge. During this period, the documents can only be retrieved by
court order.
Six months later, representatives from contesting parties will be
invited to witness the destruction of the ballots. The Workers
Party representative has always been present to inspect and ensure
that the seals are intact. He will also follow the ballot boxes all
the way to the incinerator to witness the whole destruction
process.
Your Vote is secret.
