GE2025: 27 candidates risk losing S$364,500 in election deposits in total, according to sample count

It looks like 27 candidates in GE2025 will bid goodbye to their election deposits after they failed to secure at least 12.5 per cent of the votes in the constituency they contested, if the sample counts hold.

The total value of election deposits at risk of being forfeited amounts to S$364,500, at S$13,500 per candidate.

Those at risk of losing their election deposit, according to the sample count, are:

• SUP team in Ang Mo Kio GRC: 11% (sample count)
• PPP team in Ang Mo Kio GRC: 10% (sample count)
• PPP team in Tampines GRC: 1% (sample count)
• NSP team in Tampines GRC: 0% (sample count)
• 'NSP team in Sembawang GRC: 2% (sample count)
• PAR candidate in Potong Pasir SMC: 8% (sample count)
• PAR candidate in Radin Mas SMC: 7.36% (actual count)

Deposits that were forfeited in GE2020

In the 2020 general election, the Peoples Voice team for Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency (GRC), led by lawyer Lim Tean, had their deposits forfeited after they received a vote share of 12.18 per cent.

Similarly, independent candidate Cheang Peng Wah also lost his deposit after he received only 2.78 per cent of the votes cast in Pioneer Single-Member Constituency (SMC).

Requiring election deposit ensures serious candidates

Benchmarked against the prevailing fixed monthly allowance payable to an elected Member of Parliament (MP) in Singapore, the election deposit is required from all who wish to contest in parliamentary elections.

The deposit is forfeited if the candidate fails to secure one-eighth (or 12.5 per cent) of the votes in the constituency they are contesting.

But why is there a need for a deposit in the first place?

Speaking on the topic in Parliament back in 2018, then-Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said requiring a deposit ensures that "only those who are serious in contesting in the elections step forward".

However, the election deposit cannot be so high that it essentially becomes a barrier to entry for prospective candidates.

Setting the deposit amount at one month's worth of an MP's allowance strikes a balance, said Chan.

It has also worked "reasonably well" since Singapore started holding elections, added the minister.

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