GE2020: WP's Nicole Seah, Dennis Tan and others thank overseas voters for 'making their votes count'

While some Singaporeans expressed frustration at the long queues at polling stations this general election, it was a much more arduous process for Singaporeans living overseas.

Nonetheless, 4,794 of them turned up at the designated overseas polling stations to cast their votes. This is 72.97 per cent of the number of registered overseas electors, the Elections Department (ELD) said in a press release.

Several members from the Workers' Party (WP) witnessed the counting of overseas ballots at the ELD Training Centre yesterday (July 15).

After the votes were tallied, they took to social media to share some behind-the-scenes photos and express their gratitude to overseas electors who took the trouble to cast their votes.

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WP party chairman and incumbent Aljunied Member of Parliament (MP) Sylvia Lim shared a snapshot of the candidates the party had fielded in various constituencies, calling it "a reunion of sorts".

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Hougang MP-elect Dennis Tan wrote on Facebook: "The vote count for Hougang was: WP 35, PAP 15.

"I really do appreciate the trouble that many overseas voters have taken in order to vote, eg those who had to travel far to one of the few cities or countries (eg travelling from one country in Europe to London) and some even had to serve time in quarantine after returning from voting."

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Similarly, Nicole Seah, who contested in East Coast GRC, said in an Instagram post: "We know that it has always been an arduous process to cast your vote overseas.

"Nevertheless, we are deeply appreciative for the efforts of those who made it, and made your vote count. Thank you so very much, we are grateful."

At GE2020, WP successfully defended their seats in Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC, and also won the newly carved-out Sengkang GRC against the People's Action Party (PAP).

It went head-to-head with PAP over East Coast and Marine Parade GRCs, garnering 46.61 per cent and 42.26 per cent of the votes respectively. WP saw weaker support in Punggol West SMC, getting 39.02 per cent of the votes.

The total number of votes cast at this year's general election, at both local and overseas polling stations, is 2,540,359, including 45,822 rejected votes. This is 95.81 per cent of the 2,651,435 registered electors, the ELD noted.

With the exceptions of East Coast, West Coast, and Sengkang GRCs, as well as Bukit Panjang and Kebun Baru SMCs, the trend of the overseas ballots in other constituencies were similar to those cast locally.

lamminlee@asiaone.com