Constituencies of Singapore

Group Representation Constituencies

Main article: Group Representation Constituency

In 1988, the People's Action Party (PAP) introduced Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) through an amendment to the Parliamentary Elections Act. The President, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister and guided by the Elections Department, may establish GRCs consisting of three to five electoral wards. The maximum size of GRCs has varied over time: initially three candidates, increasing to four in 1991, six between 1997 and 2020, and then reduced to five from the 2020 elections onwards.

GRCs are a unique feature of Singaporean electoral politics, consisting of multi-member constituencies where teams, or slates, of candidates from a single party or independents compete for all available seats. Each GRC team must include at least one candidate from a minority race, such as a Malay, Indian, or Other. Voting within GRCs follows a plurality voting system, where the party or group winning the most votes in a GRC secures all seats within that constituency. As a result, a party can accumulate a significant number of votes nationally but still fail to win certain GRCs. Historically, the PAP held all GRC seats until 2011. The official purpose of GRCs, as explained by former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, is to ensure minority representation in Parliament and maintain a multiracial composition.

Response

Opposition parties have criticised that the GRC system in making it more difficult for non-PAP candidates to win seats in Parliament. The high candidate deposit, which ranges from S$4,000 to S$16,000 and was most recently set at S$13,500 per candidate, increases the financial burden on opposition parties contesting GRCs. Additionally, the inclusion of Cabinet Ministers as candidates in GRCs is viewed as an advantage for the PAP, a strategy that has been employed in vulnerable constituencies such as Cheng San GRC during the 1997 Singaporean general election. The opposition has also raised concerns about last-minute boundary changes and has pointed to examples such as Joshua Benjamin Jeyaratnam's 1981 win in the Anson constituency, arguing that minority representation in Parliament has diminished since the GRC system was introduced.

The boundaries of electoral constituencies in Singapore are set by the Elections Department, which functions under the Prime Minister's Office. These boundaries are typically announced shortly before elections, often only a few days before the election is officially called. Some observers have expressed concern over this process, particularly regarding the dissolution of constituencies where opposition parties had performed well.

One frequently cited example in discussions about electoral boundary adjustments is Cheng San GRC. In the 1997 Singaporean general election, it was contested closely by the PAP and the Workers' Party of Singapore (WP), with the PAP winning 54.8% of the vote to WP’s 45.2%. Following the 2001 Singapore general election, Cheng San GRC was dissolved. Despite the challenges faced by opposition parties, the WP has since achieved success in winning GRCs, notably Aljunied GRC in the 2011 Singapore general election and Sengkang GRC in the 2020 Singaporean general election.

Current electoral map (2025 – present)

, the number of electors in the latest Registers of Electors is 2,758,095.

Group Representation Constituencies (2025)

Single Member Constituencies

References

References

1. "Parliamentary Elections Act".
2. Hussin Mutalib, 'Constitutional-Electoral Reforms and Politics in Singapore', ''Legislative Studies Quarterly'' 21 (2) (2002), p. 665.
3. [https://www.eld.gov.sg/elections_type_electoral.html Elections types - electoral] {{Webarchive. link. (23 April 2025 , accessed 18 Apr 2025.)
4. Hussin Mutalib, 'Constitutional-Electoral Reforms and Politics in Singapore', ''Legislative Studies Quarterly'' 21 (2) (2002), p. 664.
5. Hussin Mutalib, 'Constituational-Electoral Reforms and Politics in Singapore', ''Legislative Studies Quarterly'' 21 (2) (2002), p. 666.
6. Alex Au Waipang, 'The Ardour of Tokens: Opposition Parties' Struggle to Make a Difference', in T.Chong (eds), ''Management of Success: Singapore Revisited'' (Singapore, 2010), p. 106.
7. Diane K. Mauzy and R.S. Milne, ''Singapore Under the People's Action Party'' (London, 2002), p. 143.
8. Bilveer Singh, ''Politics and Governance in Singapore: An Introduction'' (Singapore, 2007), p. 172.
9. "The Report of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee, 2025".