What happens if you are on holiday & cannot vote in GE2025 on May 3?

Polling Day for the 2025 General Election is set to take place on May 3, 2025, while Nomination Day will be on Apr. 23.

Polling Day will be a public holiday.

Under the law, all employers must give employees, who are voters, a reasonable period of time for voting.

But what happens if you had planned a vacation on May 3, or fall ill and cannot vote?

Will you get fined? Can you mail in your vote?

What happens when you fail to vote?

If you are away on Polling Day, you will not be able to cast your vote. Your name will be removed from the Registers of Electors after the election.

That also means you cannot vote at future elections. But, you may apply to restore your name to the register using your Singpass here.

A fee of S$50 will be imposed if you do not have a valid reason for not voting.

Early application for restoration of name to the Registers of Electors is strongly encouraged.

No restoration can be made once a writ for an election for the next round of polling is issued.

This effectively means if you have not applied to restore your name by now, you cannot vote for the upcoming General Election.

You cannot vote if you are on holiday

Voting by post or in person at an overseas polling station is meant for Singaporeans residing overseas only, according to the Elections Department.

This does not include local Singaporeans who happen to be overseas on Polling Day, such as those on overseas vacations.

What are valid reasons for not voting?

When applying for restoration of their names to the Registers of Electors, non-voters are to state their reasons for failing to cast their vote at the earlier election.

In your application, you may provide one of the following relevant documents as justification if you have:

• An employer’s letter or educational institution’s letter or marriage certificate, if you are overseas for work, study or accompanying spouse.
• Documents showing that you are overseas for vacation or for business. E.g. receipt from travel agent/hotel, air ticket, or a letter from your employer.
• A medical certificate, hospital bill or the child’s birth certificate in the case of health reasons.

What to do if you foresee you cannot vote? Pre-apply.

After Nomination Day, if a qualified elector’s electoral division is contested and he is unable to vote in the election due to unforeseen circumstances, but wishes to vote at future elections, he may pre-apply for his name to be restored to the registers.

This can be done by submitting an application online via the services provided on the ELD website using Singpass or seek over-the-counter assistance at any community centre/ club or the ELD.

Applications for restoration of names received during the election period will only be processed after the list of electors who had failed to vote at the election, also known as the non-voter list, is compiled after the election.

If you can vote, just go ahead

In the event that the qualified elector is later able to vote in the election, he may still proceed to cast his vote at his allotted polling station.

His earlier application to restore his name will be automatically voided.

Why the forfeit of the right to vote?

According to the ELD, voting is compulsory in Singapore as it is as much a fundamental right of citizenship as it is a civic responsibility to be exercised by citizens to choose and elect their leaders in a democracy.

All Singapore citizens whose names are in the Registers of Electors have to cast their votes on Polling Day.

At the end of the election, the Returning Officer will compile the list of qualified electors who did not vote in the election, known as non-voters, and pass the list to the Registration Officer.

The Registration Officer will then remove their names from the certified register of electors of the electoral divisions that they belong to.

Non-voters are also disqualified from being a candidate at any subsequent presidential or parliamentary election.

Top photo from Kane Raynard Goh