GE2025: Maximum spending in election campaign raised to S$5 per voter to account for inflation
[SINGAPORE] Candidates in the upcoming general election can spend a maximum of S$5 for each registered voter, up from S$4 previously.
This change is to account for inflation, the Elections Department (ELD) said on Thursday (Mar 27). The last time the limit was revised was in 2015.
“If the candidate is contesting as part of a group of candidates nominated for an election in a GRC, the maximum spending limit is S$5 per elector on the register for that GRC divided by the number of candidates in the group nominated for that election,” the department added.
The law imposes a ceiling on the amount that a candidate contesting an election can spend. This is to ensure a level playing field and to prevent “money politics”, ELD said.
Spending more than the maximum amount is against the law.
In 2015, the spending limit was raised from S$3.50 to S$4 per voter to account for inflation, ELD said at that time. The limit remained unchanged in the 2020 election.
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ELD said President Tharman Shanmugaratnam has also designated the GRCs where at least one of the candidates standing for election must be a person belonging to either the Malay community, or Indian or other minority communities.
The GRCs where at least one of the candidates in each group must be a person belonging to the Malay community are:
- Aljunied
- Bishan-Toa Payoh
- Chua Chu Kang
- East Coast
- Jalan Besar
- Marine-Parade Braddell Heights
- Marsiling-Yew Tee
- Pasir Ris-Changi
- Sembawang
- Sengkang
- Tampines
The GRCs where at least one of the candidates in each group must be a person belonging to the Indian or other minority communities are:
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- Ang Mo Kio
- Holland-Bukit Timah
- Jurong East-Bukit Batok
- Nee Soon
- Punggol
- Tanjong Pagar
- West Coast-Jurong West
The group representation constituency scheme was introduced in 1988 to ensure multi-racial representation in Parliament. Each GRC must have at least one MP from a minority community.
There will be 18 GRCs at the coming polls, up from 17 now.
The next general election must be held by November, but most political observers believe Singaporeans will head to the polls by mid-year.
Some 2,758,095 people are eligible to vote in the next election, a increase of 104,153 eligible voters since the rolls were last updated in April 2020. THE STRAITS TIMES
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