Electoral boundary changes of the 2020 Singaporean general election

Background

The electoral divisions in Singapore are organised into single-member constituencies (SMCs) and group representation constituencies (GRCs). Each SMC returns one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first past the post voting system, while each GRC returns four or five MPs by party block voting. At least one candidate in the GRC must be from the Malay, Indian or other minority communities. A group of candidates intending to contest an election in a GRC must all be members of the same political party, or a group of independent candidates. Elections are conducted by the Elections Department (ELD), a department under the Prime Minister's Office.^[2]

Before elections could be called, the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) had to be convened. The EBRC evaluates the existing electoral boundaries and recommends adjustments based on changes in the electorate such as population shifts and housing developments.^[3] Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Seng revealed on a Parliament speaking on 7 October through a written reply by Pritam Singh that the EBRC has been convened on 1 August 2019.^[4] The EBRC, under the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's advice, requested for a size reduction of GRCs and increase the number of SMCs.^[5][6] The EBRC has often been accused by oppositions of gerrymandering as a mean to disadvantage the opposition.^[7][8][9]

The EBRC was convened on 1 August 2019 for the 2020 general election. The five members who oversees this process includes the chairperson Tan Kee Yong, secretary Koh Siong Ling, and members Cheong Koon Hean, Tan Boon Khai and Wong Wee Kim.^[10]

Report release

The EBRC released their report on 13 March, which called for the creation of 17 GRCs and 14 SMCs. The number of seats to return in the 14th Parliament of Singapore has been increased to 93, up by four seats from the precedent.^[11][12][1]

The four new SMCs were introduced in this election: Kebun Baru and Yio Chu Kang returned to being SMCs after their last appearances in the 1988 and 2006 elections respectively, having being carved out from the Nee Soon and Ang Mo Kio GRCs. Two new SMCs were also created carving out from the Bishan-Toa Payoh and Pasir Ris-Punggol GRCs respectively, which were Marymount and Punggol West. The sizes of both GRCs, as well as Ang Mo Kio, were reduced its size by one.

Three SMCs had been dissolved into neighbouring GRCs. Fengshan was absorbed into East Coast, giving back that GRC a five-seat size. Both Punggol East and the Anchorvale parts of Sengkang West SMC, alongside the Sengkang Central division of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, forms the new Sengkang GRC, with Fernvale from the latter constituency being absorbed into Ang Mo Kio GRC instead.

Former four-member West Coast GRC was upsized to five seats due to population growth in the Jurong West regions, which took in the Nanyang division from the Chua Chu Kang GRC and Hong Kah North SMC. The Bidadari area's expansion has also led to the redrawing of Potong Pasir for the first time in the constituency's existence, carving out the eastern portion of Toa Payoh to Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC. Tampines GRC had its boundaries changed for the first time since 2001, albeit minor, as it taken the boundaries of the Tampines North Industrial Park from Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC. Likewise, the population growth of Simpang and Novena also saw these areas redistricted to Nee Soon and Jalan Besar GRCs respectively, to even the electorate for both.

The election has no six-member GRCs for the first time since its first appearance in 1997. There were no boundary changes for four GRCs (Aljunied, Holland-Bukit Timah, Jurong and Tanjong Pagar) and eight SMCs (Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Hougang, MacPherson, Mountbatten, Pioneer, Radin Mas and Yuhua).^[1]