Mountbatten SMC sample count: PAP's Gho Sze Kee 62%, independent Jeremy Tan 38%

The sample count for Mountbatten SMC has been released.

According to the Elections Department (ELD), People's Action Party's Gho Sze Kee is ahead of independent candidate Jeremy Tan with 62 per cent of votes.

The ELD has cautioned that the sample count could be different from the actual result as counting is still in progress.

While the expected margin of error is +/- four percentage points, members of the public should wait for the official announcement by the returning officer, which will be broadcast live on television.

In GE 2020, People's Action Party (PAP) incumbent MP Lim Biow Chuan retained Mountbatten SMC with a 73.84 per cent win, beating first-time candidate Sivakumaran Chellappa of the Peoples' Voice Party.

What is the sample count?

Prior to the final tally being broadcast, the sample count is published by the ELD.

According to ELD, the sample count is released in order to prevent speculation and misinformation from unofficial sources while counting is underway.

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 final tally will be released later.

Top image from Jeremy Tan/Instagram