Sembawang West SMC sample count: PAP leads with 53% of votes

The sample count for Sembawang West SMC has been released.

According to the Elections Department (ELD), the People's Action Party's (PAP) Poh Li San is ahead of the Singapore Democratic Party's (SDP) Chee Soon Juan with 53 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 broadcasted live on television.

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 images from SDP and PAP