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He had failed to update his address after moving to his new residence in 2022.
June 03, 2025, 03:15 PM
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has issued a verbal warning to the sole registered voter in a polling district within Tampines Changkat SMC.
In a joint statement by ICA and the Elections Department (ELD), investigations revealed that the individual had registered his address at an industrial park in Tampines in 2020, as he had lived there temporarily.
However, he failed to update his address within 28 days after moving to his new residence in 2022.
“The decision to issue a verbal advisory took into account that this was his first offence under the National Registration Act, and there was no evidence to suggest any malicious or criminal intent,” said ICA and ELD.
The individual has since updated his address with ICA, and his updated address will be reflected in the next revised Registers of Electors.
Just one voter
When the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee released its report on the recommended electoral boundary changes, there was a polling district with only one registered voter.
Polling district EC42, which is the size of about 14 football fields.
The area did not appear to be much of a residential area currently. It had several upcoming BTO projects, numerous industrial buildings, and a commercial hostel.
In April 2025, ICA investigated the sole voter.
ICA stated individuals in Singapore should declare their address based on where they are physically residing, and it is “not operationally tenable” for it to verify every person’s declared place of residence, or check with premise owners if they disallow people to reside in their commercial or industrial buildings.
According to AsiaOne, the voter is a 53-year-old man, who gave his surname as Yeo.
The man said he is the sole proprietor of a business that is based in an industrial unit in Tampines.
While he does not live in the unit, he spends long hours at work six days out of seven.
“It was for the convenience to run this business,” he explained.
Informed that he was the only listed voter in the polling district, Yeo expressed disbelief.
“Impossible. This is such a huge area with many new flats,” he said.
Top photo via Google Maps & Canva
