Polling Day

I was an agent this morning to observe the voting processes in a polling station. Got a first hand look at how a polling station was running and the polling station officers going about their duties. I must congratulate the Elections Dept for a job well done. The officers were all very well trained and know what they were supposed to do and conducted themselves very professionally.

I arrived before 7.30am and everything had already been set up and ready to go. By 7.45am they started to seal the ballot boxes, made of cardboards with two open slots for dropping the poll cards. The boxes were checked and carefully sealed with the seals of the Elections Dept. The civil servants from various ministries did all the necessaries and by 8 am sharp it was open for business, and everything went on smoothly in the spacious canteen of a primary school. Nothing could possibly go wrong with so many officers and voters streaming in.

There were already some early birds waiting outside the polling station way before 7.30am. They could not get in before 8am. I walked through the gate only to be stopped by the school’s security guards. I told them I was a polling agent but they were like deaf, pre conditioned to tell everyone to wait outside. I had to tell them I need to be in to watch the sealing of the ballot boxes and only then did they understand who I was, a polling agent.

I went in, met the officers in charge, showed them my authorization letter as a polling agent and was issued with a pass to hang on my chest. After a short briefing and queries on the do’s and don’ts, I was shown where I would be sitting to watch the whole process of voters casting their votes.

As I said, everything was as flawless as it could be and with the helpful officers all waiting to assist, it was smooth flowing. I have never seen so many seniors on wheelchairs in a single morning. They kept coming in, pushed in by the polling station officers. I was asked to witness a wheelchair bound voter that refused to mark the card and the Asst Returning Officer, after confirmation with the polling agents present, and asking the voter a few times to make sure that was her intention, finally dropped the blank vote into the box. There were several seniors that should not be there but were there, wheeled into the station by their family members. Their mind was far from lucid and could hardly know what they were doing. The family members with them just went through the motion and dropped blank votes into the box.

I was told that after the end of the election a polling agent from each candidate/party would follow the coach with the sealed boxes to the counting stations. This process would rule out or greatly minimize whatever mischiefs that were speculating in the rumour mills. With all parties represented by their trusted polling agents, the journey from the polling stations to the counting stations should be safe in the company and under the watchful eyes of so many officers in the coach. It would be unduly difficult for hanky panky affairs in their presence even if a polling agent turned out to be a mole. Not really easy to do mischief inside the coach on its way to the counting stations, very remote.

The whole voting process is as transparent as it could be and conducted in the best possible ways under the watchful eyes of many officers including those from the candidates’ parties. Any room for error or monkey business could then be left in the counting stations How the votes are counted, how spoilt votes are declared void etc etc there seem to be some room for discretions and human errors, intentional or other wise. The impression I have is that most of the problems are likely to occur during counting and after counting, recounting. And that is where all the fighting would occur to make a few votes more or less counts. The counting agents could play a vital role when the real hustle begins inside the counting stations.

In the next few hours, the fortune of Singapore will change, could change dramatically, or going down the same path under the PAP. The fate of Singaporeans are in the process of being cooked now.