Presidential election
The Singaporean presidential election uses the first-past-the-post system. Under this voting system, the candidate who secures the greatest number of votes is elected.
Parliamentary election
Singapore’s Parliament is single house and has three types of Members of Parliament (MPs). They are:
- Elected MPs;
- Non-Constituency MPs; and
- Nominated MPs.
Elected MPs form the bulk and are elected at an election on a one-man-one-vote system based on a simple majority (popularly known as the first-past-the-post system).
Elected MPs could be returned from Single Member Constituencies (SMC) and Group Representation Constituencies (GRC). Each SMC returns 1 MP while each GRC returns four or five MPs, one of whom must be from the Malay Community or the Indian or Other Minority Communities. This is to ensure that the minority groups are represented in Parliament. In the 2020 general election, there are 14 SMCs and 17 GRCs, making a total of 31 constituencies and 93 MPs.
Non-constituency MPs (NCMPs) are chosen from candidates of a political party or parties not forming the government. The Constitution and the Parliamentary Elections Act provide that for the next and subsequent Parliaments, the number of NCMPs shall be nine less than the total number of elected opposition MPs in Parliament. The number of NCMPs coming from any GRC shall be capped at two, and the number from any SMC shall not be more than one.
The non-constituency MPs to be declared elected shall be determined from amongst the candidates of the Opposition parties contesting the general election on the basis of the percentage of votes polled by such candidates. (Details are spelled out in Section 52 of the Act.)
Nominated MPs (NMPs) are Singapore Citizens nominated by a Special Select Committee of Parliament for appointment by the President. NMP does not stand for election. The Constitution provides for nine NMPs.
Source:
The Election Department Singapore, President Elections, http://www.eld.gov.sg/elections_presidential.html.
The Election Department Singapore, Parliamentary Elections, http://www.eld.gov.sg/elections_parliamentary.html.