GE2020 ballot papers, other election documents destroyed

SINGAPORE: Voting papers and other electoral documents used in the 2020 General Election were destroyed on Saturday (January 16) as part of the process to ensure the secrecy of the vote.

The documents were transported to the Tuas South Incineration Plant from the Supreme Court vault, where they had been kept for the past six months.

Representatives of the political parties also checked the seals on the polls to make sure they were not broken.

Those present included Members of Parliament Yeo Wan Ling and Derrick Goh of the People’s Action Party, opposition leader Pritam Singh and Nicole Seah of the Workers’ Party, as well as Dr. Paul Tambyah of the Singapore Democratic Party.

Prior to the incineration of the documents, a ballot box was opened to retrieve a copy of the voter roll of the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC electoral district PN23 that had been accidentally sealed in a ballot box containing ballots.

The Elections Department previously announced that the box will be opened in the Supreme Court to retrieve the registry for the purpose of preparing the list of voters in PN23 who did not vote in the election.

The destruction of these documents is stipulated by law and “to guarantee the secrecy of the vote,” the Elections Department said in early January.

Under the Parliamentary Elections Act, sealed ballot boxes must be kept in safe custody for six months after elections and can only be opened during this period “for the purpose of initiating or maintaining a prosecution or a request to invalidate an election”.