Long Queues At Singapore Election Polls Amid COVID-19 Restrictions

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) Singapore's voters headed to the polling stations on Friday morning to elect a new government, lining up in long waiting queues amid the coronavirus-related restrictive measures, the Elections Department of Singapore (ELD) said.

"ELD has observed longer than usual queues in some Polling Stations this morning after polls were opened at 8 am [12:00 GMT]. This is partly due to the additional safety measures put in place to ensure safe voting," the government department noted in the statement.

It added that senior voters aged 65 and older could only cast their ballots between 8.00 a.m. and noon, to minimize their contact with younger people.

"ELD urges younger voters, who are not accompanying any seniors, to keep to their assigned voting time-bands after 12 noon. We strongly encourage voters to check the queue situation at their assigned polling stations before setting off to vote," the ELD statement read.

According to local media reports, staff members at the polling stations wore gloves, masks and face shields.

Polls will close at 8.00 p.m. (00:00 GMT), with the preliminary results expected to be out in the hours afterward. The full composition of the next parliament is likely to be known by Saturday morning.

To date, Singapore has 3,751 active COVID-19 cases, 26 deaths and 41,645 recoveries, according to the Health Ministry's update.