GE: Record 2.2 million Singaporeans to vote in General Election

SINGAPORE: A record 2.21 million voters will cast their votes on Saturday to elect the 12th Parliament.

The number of voters this year is almost double the number of voters seen in the last General Election in 2006.

It's believed that one in four, or some 600,000 voters, are between the ages of 21 and 35.

In this election, 82 seats out of 87 are contested.

This makes 2011 General Election the most contested polls since Independence.

This election sees 15 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and 12 Single Member Constituencies (SMCs).

Only one, the Tanjong Pagar GRC, led by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, is uncontested - which resulted in a walkover.

Among the GRCs, Pasir Ris-Punggol - with six members - has the most number of voters with 168,911. That GRC is lead by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

The GRC to watch is going to be Aljunied GRC, where the Workers' Party team, led by its Secretary General Low Thia Khiang, is contesting against the incumbent PAP team, led by Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo.

For two reasons, Mr Low - an MP for 20 years in Hougang SMC - has left his ward with the aim of winning in Aljunied.

Secondly, Aljunied GRC had the highest share of Oppositions votes against the PAP in the last election.

Among the SMCs, Punggol East has the most number of voters of 33,276 for an SMC.

It's the only constituency that's seeing a three-cornered fight.

The PAP's Michael Palmer, Singapore Democratic Alliance's Desmond Lim and the Workers' Party Lee Li Lian are contesting that SMC.

The two SMCs to watch - Hougang, which will see the contest between the Workers' Party's Yaw Shin Leong and the PAP's Desmond Choo.

And Potong Pasir SMC - as incumbent veteran Opposition MP Chiam See Tong is handing over the reins to his wife, Mrs Lina Chiam.

The PAP is represented by Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, who is contesting there for the third time, eager to make a breakthrough.

A total of seven political parties including the People's Action Party and the Workers' Party are participating in this General Election. The various parties campaigned actively over the last nine days except on Friday, which was Cooling-off Day. In 2006, the People's Action Party achieved 66.6 percent of valid votes.

MediaCorp will bring you 'live' coverage of the election results on television, radio and online.

The election results programme will start from 9.30pm on Channel NewsAsia and Channel 5.

MediaCorp will also carry the 'live' telecast of the post-election news conference by the Prime Minister after the results are released.

By : May Wong