Polling begins in Singapore's general election

SINGAPORE -- Polling stations across Singapore opened at 8:00 am local time (0000 GMT) on Saturday for the country's general election.

A total of 211 candidates, including two independents, are contesting the 97 elected parliamentary seats. Of these 97 seats, five in a multi-member constituency have already been secured by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), as no opposition candidates were fielded there.

The PAP, the ruling party since Singapore's independence in 1965, is fielding 97 candidates and contesting every seat. This election marks the first time Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is leading the party into a general election, after succeeding Lee Hsien Loong in May 2024 following Lee's two-decade tenure.

In the 2020 general election, the PAP garnered 61.24 percent of the popular vote, down from 69.86 percent in 2015.