Woman flamed by netizens for secretly recording voting process on Polling Day

[UPDATE: May 13, 11.50am]

In response to AsiaOne's queries, Elections Department Singapore (ELD) shared that they are aware of the case involving a Sengkang voter who recorded and uploaded footage taken of herself at the polling booth within a polling station on Polling Day.

"We have reviewed the incident carefully. We note that the footage does not carry any information on how other voters had cast their vote, and therefore did not compromise the secrecy of their vote," they shared.

However, they added that such "blatant and irresponsible behaviour" can undermine public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process.

"We will strengthen our voter education efforts to reinforce awareness of the do’s and don’ts at polling stations. We will also strengthen our training to remind our election officials to watch out and stop such behaviours at future elections," assured ELD.

Casting your vote during the General Election is meant to be a private affair, but one woman decided to document her experience. 

The woman uploaded a video of it onto her TikTok account on Polling Day (May 3). 

In the 40-second clip, she shared in Mandarin that although voters are not allowed to take photos while voting, she would "secretly" record the process. 

Snippets of her video showed the outside of her polling station at a HDB void deck in Sengkang, as well as her ballot paper showing clearly the two parties and their candidates. 

After voting, she said the whole process was "quite fast". 

In the comments of her video, some netizens questioned her actions while others pointed out that what she did was wrong. 

Some also said that a police report should be made.

However, there was one netizen who noted that the woman may be a new Singapore citizen and urged others to give her a chance because voting is a new process to her. 

According to the Elections Department Singapore (ELD), voters are not allowed to bring or use any camera, video or photographic equipment in the polling station. 

They are also not allowed to use their handphones in the polling station. 

melissateo@asiaone.com

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