Elections in Singapore

There are currently two types of elections in Singapore. Parliamentary and presidential elections. According to the Constitution of Singapore, general elections for Parliament must be conducted within three months of the dissolution of Parliament, which has a maximum term of five years from the first sitting of Parliament, and presidential elections are conducted every six years.

The Parliament of Singapore is unicameral with 93 seats. Since the legislative assembly election in 1959, the People's Action Party (PAP) has had an overwhelming majority, and for nearly two decades was the only political party to win any seats, and has always formed the Government of Singapore.

Parliamentary elections
From Singapore's independence in 1965, to 1981, the People's Action Party (PAP) won every single seat in every election held, forming a parliament with no elected opposition MP for almost two decades. In Singapore, opposition politicians and trade unionists were detained in prison without trial before the 1960s and early 1970s. Many such as Lim Chin Siong, Said Zahari and Lim Hock Siew were accused by the government of being involved in subversive communist struggles. Other oppositions had also rendered ineligible due to conviction, including those who went bankrupt. Catherine Lim argues that a climate of fear hurts Singapore.

In the eighties, opposition politicians began being elected in parliament with J. B. Jeyaretnam and Chiam See Tong, along with the creation of two schemes in the eighties: the Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) scheme awarding to the candidates with the best result among non-elected oppositions in the eighties, and a group of nonpartisans collectively known as Nominated Member of Parliament. Further amendments resulted in a minimum quota of number of oppositions to determine the number of NCMPs, from three members to nine in 2010s, then to 12 in 2020s.

The 1988 elections introduced the Group Representation Constituency (GRC), a plurality General ticket voting system for a team of between three and six candidates, to improve the ethnicity representation in Parliament and town council management; certain analysis crititized the scheme as a form of gerrymandering to reduce opposition representation, most notably where teams in a GRC had been elected uncontested on consecutive elections. In each election leading up to nominations, the Elections Department, determines electoral boundaries without the need of parliamentary approval, was established as part of the executive branch under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), rather than as an independent body; analysists also criticize the process of electoral engineering, whereas poll results would determine whether if the constituency with a poor result would be redistricted to neighbouring constituencies, though that the ELD decline to reveal the reasons of redistriction except for population increase in planning areas and electorate balancing. In one notable scenario, both Cheng San and Eunos GRC were examples of constituencies dissolved by the Elections Department after opposition parties gained ground in elections, with voters redistributed to other constituencies; similarly, Bukit Batok and Yuhua were also absorbed into neighbouring GRCs due to a close result, though they were returned to SMCs after years of absence.

However, Freedom House has noted that elections in Singapore are technically free of electoral fraud. Throughout the history of the Republic of Singapore, hundreds of politicians have been elected in Parliament, of whom majority of unique candidates represent the governing People's Action Party including late stalwarts like Lee Khoon Choy. Since 1965, 19 opposition politicians have been elected into Parliament, including J. B. Jeyaretnam, Chiam See Tong, Low Thia Khiang, Ling How Doong, Cheo Chai Chen, Chen Show Mao, Yaw Shin Leong, Png Eng Huat, Lee Li Lian, and also ten incumbent candidates from the Workers' Party including Secretary-general and opposition leader Pritam Singh, as well as the Chairwoman and first female MP-elect Sylvia Lim and first Malay MP-elect Faisal Manap.

2020 general election
A general election was called on 23 June 2020, with Singaporeans electing their Members of Parliament (MPs) on 10 July 2020.

Presidential elections
Presidential elections have been held since 1993. Under the "Presidential Elections Act", to run for president, one must obtain a "Certificate of Eligibility" from the Presidential Elections Committee. These conditions are:


 * Be a citizen of Singapore.
 * Be at least 45 years of age.
 * Be a registered voter.
 * Be a resident in Singapore at the date of their nomination for election and a resident for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than ten years prior to that date.
 * Not be subject to any of the following disqualifications:
 * (a) being and having been found or declared to be of unsound mind;
 * (b) being an undischarged bankrupt;
 * (c) holding an office of profit;
 * (d) having been nominated for election to Parliament or the office of President or having acted as election agent to a person so nominated, failing to lodge any return of election expenses required by law within the time and in the manner so required;
 * (e) having been convicted of an offence by a court of law in Singapore or Malaysia and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than S$2,000 and having not received a free pardon, provided that where the conviction is by a court of law in Malaysia, the person shall not be disqualified unless the offence is also one which, had it been committed in Singapore, would have been punishable by a court of law in Singapore;
 * (f) having voluntarily acquired the citizenship of, or exercised rights of citizenship in, a foreign country, or having made a declaration of allegiance to a foreign country;
 * (g) being disqualified under any law relating to offences in connection with elections to Parliament or the office of President by reason of having been convicted of such an offence or having in proceedings relating to such an election been proved guilty of an act constituting such an offence.


 * Be a person of integrity, good character and reputation.
 * Not be a member of any political party on the date of nomination for election.
 * Have served for a at least three years in office —
 * as Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker, Attorney-General, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Auditor-General, Accountant-General or Permanent Secretary;
 * as chief executive officer (CEO) of a key statutory board or government company: the Central Provident Fund Board, the Housing and Development Board, the Jurong Town Corporation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Temasek Holdings, or GIC Private Limited (formerly known as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation);
 * as the most senior executive of a company with an average of $500 million in shareholders' equity for the most recent three years in that office, and which is profitable after taxes; or
 * in any other similar or comparable position of seniority and responsibility in any other organisation or department of equivalent size or complexity in the public or private sector which has given him such experience and ability in administering and managing financial affairs as to enable him to carry out effectively the functions and duties of the office of President.

Because of the stringent requirements needed to run for presidential elections, only three out of the seven elections had contests (1993, 2011 and 2023), while the rest were walkovers. An amendment to the Constitution in 2016 saw the 2017 election become reserved for a certain community (Malay community in the case), resulting in that year's election to cause a walkover as well. To date, 10 candidates had awarded the Certificate of Eligibility (with two being eligible twice), of which five candidates were president-elect (only one candidate, S. R. Nathan, had served for two terms and had no prior affiliation with the incumbent ruling People's Action Party)

Referendums
A referendum may also be held for important national issues, although it has been held only once in Singapore's political history for the 1962 merger referendum. Calls for a national referendum has been made since then, including the issue over the building of casinos in Singapore.

Legislative Council elections

 * 1948 general election
 * 1948 Rural West by-election
 * 1951 general election
 * 1952 Seletar by-election

Legislative Assembly elections

 * 1955 general election
 * 1957 by-elections
 * 1959 general election
 * 1961 by-elections (April and July)

As State of Malaysia

 * 1963 general election
 * 1965 Hong Lim by-election

Parliamentary elections

 * 1966 by-elections (January, March & November)
 * 1967 by-elections
 * 1968 general election (First general election as an independent nation)
 * 1970 by-elections
 * 1972 general election
 * 1976 general election
 * 1977 by-election (May & November)
 * 1979 by-elections
 * 1980 general election
 * 1981 Anson by-election
 * 1984 general election
 * 1988 general election
 * 1991 general election
 * 1992 Marine Parade by-election
 * 1997 general election
 * 2001 general election
 * 2006 general election
 * 2011 general election
 * 2012 Hougang by-election
 * 2013 Punggol East by-election
 * 2015 general election
 * 2016 Bukit Batok by-election
 * 2020 general election

Municipal Commission elections

 * April 1949 ordinary election
 * December 1949 ordinary election

City Council elections

 * 1957 ordinary election
 * 1958 by-election

National referendums

 * 1962 national referendum

Federal & State elections for Malaysia

 * 1964 general election

Presidential elections

 * 1993 presidential election
 * 1999 presidential election
 * 2005 presidential election
 * 2011 presidential election
 * 2017 presidential election
 * 2023 presidential election

Party election

 * 1959 PAP prime ministerial election

Upcoming election

 * Next Singaporean general election (to be held before 2025)