SINGAPORE - For the first time, special polling stations will be set up at 31 nursing homes for this year’s presidential election in a pilot initiative to facilitate voting by seniors. This will benefit 4,087 voters, the Elections Department (ELD) said on Wednesday.
This comes after new election laws were passed in March to make voting easier for the elderly in nursing homes, as they may have difficulty travelling to polling stations.
Each of the 31 nursing homes selected for the pilot has more than 50 voters. According to the Ministry of Health’s website, there were 83 nursing homes in 2022.
The nursing homes involved in the pilot are:
- Bright Hill Evergreen Home
- Bukit Batok Care Home
- Econ Care Residence (Henderson)
- Grace Lodge
- Ju Eng Home for Senior Citizens
- Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital
- Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital @ Potong Pasir
- MWS Bethany Nursing Home – Choa Chu Kang
- NTUC Health (Chai Chee)
- NTUC Health (Geylang East)
- NTUC Health (Jurong Spring)
- NTUC Health (Jurong West)
- NTUC Health (Pasir Ris)
- NTUC Health (Tampines)
- Orange Valley Nursing Home (Clementi)
- Orange Valley Nursing Home (Marsiling)
- Orange Valley Nursing Home (Simei)
- Pacific Healthcare Nursing Home II
- Ren Ci @ Ang Mo Kio (Nursing Home)
- Ren Ci @ Bukit Batok Street 52 (Nursing Home)
- Senja Care Home
- SNM Nursing Home @ Chong Pang
- Society for the Aged Sick
- St Joseph’s Home
- St Andrew’s Nursing Home (Henderson)
- St Andrew’s Nursing Home (Queenstown)
- St John’s – St Margaret’s Nursing Home
- Tampines Care Home
- The Salvation Army, Peacehaven Nursing Home
- THK Nursing Home @ Hougang
- Woodlands Care Home
Nursing home residents who are bed-bound or unable to walk to the polling station will have a ballot box and ballot paper brought to their bedside by a mobile polling team.
If the voter is not at his or her bed when the mobile polling team visits, a notice will be left on the voter’s bed stating the attempted visit and the next approximate visit time. The mobile polling team will not visit again after the third try.
Voters who are physically unable to mark the ballot paper can ask for assistance from an election official in the mobile polling team. A second election official from the mobile polling team will witness the process.
Residents who are unable to identify themselves or are unresponsive to the mobile polling team will not be issued a ballot paper to cast their vote.
To facilitate voting for seniors at regular polling stations, ELD has put in place measures such as special alighting points with barrier-free access, priority queues and lap polling booths.
