Tharman and his wife cast their votes 2 hours before PE 2023 poll ends

SINGAPORE: Presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam, competing in the 2023 Presidential Election (PE 2023), arrived at the Bukit Timah polling station at 5:37 pm on Friday (1 Sept) alongside his wife, Jane Ittogi, to cast their votes.

During his interaction with the media, the 66-year-old mentioned that he had visited several polling stations in the morning, including ones in Tampines and Marsiling, where he observed a smooth voting process.

“I’m feeling fine… it feels good. Just the calmness of Singapore feels good,” he says, adding that he woke up pretty early in the morning.

The former senior minister from the People’s Action Party (PAP) also praised the advice given by the Elections Department (ELD) to vote in the afternoon, saying, “I thought ELD’s advice was excellent. It issued a notice early in the morning to tell people to come in the afternoon, so we thought it was a good idea,” he says.

Mr Tharman and his wife reportedly left the polling station at around 6:00 p.m.

After voting, he expressed his satisfaction with the smooth voting process and commended the election officials.

“Some of them had to start at 5 am; they have been going through the day, they had to deal with some computer glitches in the morning but they dealt with it very well, I thought. So kudos to all the election officials all over the island.”

The other two presidential candidates, Tan Kin Lian and Ng Kok Song were captured by the media as they made their way to the polling station this morning.

As of 5 p.m. on Friday, a total of 2,302,996 Singaporeans, representing approximately 85 per cent of eligible voters, have cast their votes.

The polls began at 8 a.m., and the Elections Department (ELD) advises those who have not voted yet to ensure they have enough time to do so before the polls close at 8 p.m.