VOICES OF FIRST-TIME VOTERS: What is it like to view GE2020 through the lens of a first-time voter in Singapore? In this perspectives series, young Singaporeans share their views (including curious observations, thoughts and concerns) on voting in the midst of a pandemic.

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GE2020 is upon us.

On June 23, President Halimah Yacob dissolved Parliament on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

With Polling Day announced to be on July 10, this leaves me less than two weeks before voting commences.

I was not able to vote in the last election, being marginally too young (my birthday missed the cut-off), and I'm naturally excited to get my chance this year.

Excitement aside, I do have my fair share of concerns regarding voting. Now this isn't about who to vote for, but rather, if my vote is really a secret.

There are always rumours involving the consequences of voting for the opposition

I may sound paranoid, but hear me out here. If you grew up in Singapore, surely you have heard some of these statements before.

"Eh, are you sure you want vote for xxx? Later you get marked."

"Huh, you voting for xxx? You don't want your lifts upgraded is it?"

"Siao, you vote for xxx, what if people find out? You work in the government, you know?"

You get the idea.

There will always be rumours that if you vote for the opposition, your life will be adversely impacted in some way, especially if you are a civil servant, or have family members that work in the government.

This constant fear of 'being marked' is why many people may not be comfortable with voting for their preferred candidate.

But how true are these statements? To be frank, I wasn't very sure. But I was willing to do the work to find out.

Like a typical millennial doing preliminary research on a school project, I started with a simple Google search: "IS MY VOTE SECRET?"

Candidates are given the opportunity to observe the voting process

The first result, as one might expect, came from the Elections Department Singapore (ELD), which gave a pretty comprehensive explanation of what happens during the voting process.

After all, the main concern for many people is that the ruling party may somehow get their hands on ballot papers (a slip of paper used to register a vote), allowing them to keep track of the voting patterns of the public.

According to ELD, a rigorous process exists to ensure the security of the ballot papers, in order to allow for voting secrecy at each election.

The whole process of voting is pretty transparent, given how it is open to observation by the candidates themselves.

Ballot boxes are shown to candidates and polling agents before they are used, in order for them to verify that they are empty, before the boxes are sealed by the Presiding Officers at the polling station.

This is done before the start of poll on Polling Day.

After the poll has closed, these ballot boxes containing the ballot papers will be sealed, and the process is once again witnessed by candidates and their polling agents.

When it comes to the counting of votes, candidates will once again be given the opportunity to ascertain for themselves that the boxes are all accounted for, and that the seals are intact and have not been tampered with.

After the election result has been announced, the ballot papers will be placed into boxes and sealed once again, before being transported to the Supreme Court via Police escort.

The boxes will then remain in safe custody for six months.

In short, the candidates themselves are given the opportunity to scrutinise every step of the voting process, in order to prevent voter fraud.

Why are there serial numbers on each ballot paper?

Well, if nobody is keeping track of the ballot papers, then why are there serial numbers?

This is a common refrain from those who are convinced that voter secrecy is not practiced.

The ELD has an answer to this as well.

According to the ELD, "the voter serial number is written on the ballot paper counterfoil to facilitate vote tracing if necessary."

"Ah hah! The ELD is basically admitting that votes are being traced, no?"

Well, not exactly.

It is important for ballot papers to have serial numbers to guard against counterfeiting and voter impersonation (imagine if someone manages to counterfeit ballot slips and just stuff 10,000 votes for the Easter Bunny in your nearest GRC).

ELD also states that it is important for the voter serial number and the voter's name to be called out during the voting process, in order to acknowledge that the Presiding Officer has identified the right name.

It also makes the proceedings more transparent to polling agents, who are representing their candidates.

Now, I did notice a section on the ELD site, which may be quite unnerving for some. Here it is:

"Theoretically, it is possible for anyone with access to the ballot papers to identify who cast a particular vote. The link between the ballot paper number and the voter serial number on the counterfoil does facilitate tracing from a ballot paper to a voter's identity on the Registers of Electors in the event there is an election petition."

Is this ELD stating that vote tracing is possible? Yes.

But how often would it happen? Probably not often, given that a court order is necessary to conduct vote tracing, and such an order will only be given if there is evidence that votes have been fraudulently cast.

In short, just because something is theoretically possible, doesn't mean it actually happens on a wide scale.

The WP released a video recently on Voter Secrecy

Not entirely convinced yet (like how submitting an essay with only one source will probably just get you a pass), I decided to press on and find more sources of information.

I found that the Workers' Party's Gerald Giam wrote extensively on the topic in 2010 on his personal blog, with some interesting nuggets of information.

For example, he noted that although it is possible that votes can be taken out of storage and examined, this can only be done in the event of a disputed outcome, and with a court order issued.

The process must also be done in full view of the candidates, which probably helps to deter any potential shenanigans from anyone trying to conduct voter fraud.

He said that such a court order to retrieve votes have not been issued since Singapore's first elections in 1948.

More recently, the Workers' Party themselves have also released a video on the topic, reassuring Singaporeans ahead of Polling Day that their votes are indeed secret.

Beyond these authoritative voices, there are also many informal platforms of debate on the issue that can be found on the Internet.

While some of these are inherently troll-ish ("eh, I no proof, but believe me man, it's not secret!"), others make very reasoned arguments for why your vote is more likely than not to be secret.

For example, an argument can be made that there is just too much effort involved in tracking the voting decisions of individuals.

After all, with the various security measures involved, which includes a police escort for the ballot papers, one is going to require a James Bond-esque operation to get their hands on this information.

And for what? Just to find out whether John Doe from Marine Parade voted for the ruling party or not? Unlikely.

While parties are definitely interested in the voting decisions of the masses, they are more concerned about the voting patterns of large swaths of people, not individuals.

And as much as I want to believe I am really important, I doubt anyone will go to such lengths just to figure out who I am voting for.

Just vote for who you want

So what does all this mean?

Well, for one thing, I can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that my vote will likely be kept secret.

Retrieving voter information is far more complicated than I had imagined, and while it's theoretically possible to track votes, the necessity of a court order to do so makes it unlikely to happen.

Time to spend the rest of my week figuring out who best to vote for, rather than being worried about whether someone will dig up my ballot paper.

Are you a first-time voter, and have an interesting perspective to share or a commentary to contribute? Write to us at [email protected]

Top image via MCI.