GE2025: Sample count to be published before final tally

The polls for GE2025 have officially closed.

The official results will be announced live on television by the Returning Officer when the votes have been counted.

Prior to the final tally being broadcast, a sample count will be published by the Elections Department (ELD).

What is a sample count?

The sample count provides an indication of the results in each constituency, which are obtained by:

• Picking a random bundle of 100 ballot papers from each polling station.
• Counting the 100 votes, with candidates and counting agents present.
• Adding up the votes for each candidate or GRC team, giving more weightage to the bundles from polling stations where more votes were cast.

The sample count for each constituency will be released to the media and published on the ELD website.

How accurate is a sample count?

The sample count is expected to have a small margin of error.

During GE2015, the sample count was within 2 per cent of the official results in all constituencies except MacPherson.

In MacPherson SMC, the sample count indicated a 63 per cent victory for Tin Pei Ling, but the actual result was 65.58 per cent.

GE2020 saw similar small margins, with the seven SMCs recording differences of between 2 and 5 per cent, such as Kebun Bahru SMC, where the sample count was off by about 5.1 per cent.

To sum up, the actual election result is likely to be different from the sample count, but not by a big margin.

Why have a sample count?

According to the ELD, the sample count is performed to get an early indication of the possible electoral outcome for that electoral division.

It helps to reduce speculation and misinformation from unofficial sources before the release of official results.

The sample count also helps election officials check against the election result for that electoral division.

Top image via Mothership