Updated spending cap aims to reflect rising costs; new electoral boundaries and minority representation rules confirmed for GE2025

Candidates contesting in the next general election will now be permitted to spend up to $5 for every registered voter, following an adjustment made to address inflation.

The Elections Department (ELD) announced the revised cap on March 27, noting that the spending ceiling was last increased in 2015, when it rose from $3.50 to $4 per voter. That limit had remained unchanged during the 2020 General Election.

Under the law, election candidates are subject to strict spending limits to safeguard electoral fairness and prevent the misuse of financial resources. The ELD stressed that exceeding the spending threshold is a legal offence.

For those contesting as part of a group in a Group Representation Constituency (GRC), the $5-per-voter cap will be divided evenly among the candidates within the group.

In the previous general election, more than $9 million was collectively spent by candidates on their campaigns, largely on printed materials such as banners, posters, fliers, and digital advertising. During that election, the People’s Action Party (PAP) registered the highest spending at $2.63 per voter, while the Workers’ Party (WP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP) spent $1.21 and $1.19 per voter, respectively.

Additionally, the ELD confirmed on March 27 that President Tharman Shanmugaratnam has designated specific GRCs where minority representation is mandatory. As per the multiracial framework introduced in 1988, each GRC must include at least one candidate from either the Malay, Indian or other minority communities.

Twelve GRCs will require at least one Malay candidate, including Aljunied, East Coast, Jalan Besar, Marine Parade-Braddell Heights, and Tampines. Seven GRCs will require at least one candidate from the Indian or other minority communities, including Ang Mo Kio, Jurong East-Bukit Batok, and the newly created Punggol GRC.

Some boundary adjustments have also been made ahead of the next election. Marine Parade GRC has been renamed Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, while parts of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC will now fall under the new Pasir Ris-Changi GRC. Similarly, large areas of the current Jurong and West Coast GRCs will form the new Jurong East-Bukit Batok and West Coast-Jurong West GRCs.

The number of GRCs will increase from 17 to 18 in the upcoming polls.

Approximately 2.76 million Singaporeans are eligible to vote in the next election, an increase of over 104,000 since the electoral roll was last revised in April 2020. Although the next general election must be conducted by November, political analysts expect voters to head to the polls by mid-2025.