1976 Singaporean general election

General elections were held in Singapore on 23 December 1976. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won all 69 seats, the third of four consecutive elections in which they repeated the feat. Voter turnout was 95.1%, out of 857,297 voters eligible (from the total electorate of 1,095,817) from the 53 contested constituencies.[1][2]

1976 Singaporean general election
23 December 1976
All 69 seats to the Parliament of Singapore
35 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout95.1%
  First party
 
Leader Lee Kuan Yew
Party PAP
Leader's seat Tanjong Pagar
Last election 65 seats, 70.4%
Seats before 65
Seats won 69
Seat change 4
Popular vote 815,130
Percentage 74.1
Swing 3.7%
Winning party by constituency.
Singapore
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Singapore
Singapore portal

Electoral system

The 69 members of Parliament were elected from 69 single-member constituencies, an increase from 65 used for the previous elections in 1972. The deposit was increased for the first time to $1,200, up from $500.[2]

Timeline
Date Event
6 DecemberDissolution of 3rd Parliament
13 DecemberNomination Day
23 DecemberPolling Day
7 February 1977Opening of 4th Parliament

Constituencies
Main article: List of Singaporean electoral divisions (1976–80)

Similar to previous elections, constituencies were either dissolved or created due to population. Six constituencies were abolished and ten new ones created, which were reflected on the table:

ConstituencyChanges
New Constituencies
Ang Mo KioCarved from parts of Nee Soon, Serangoon Gardens and Thomson
BedokCarved from Siglap
Boon LayCarved from Jurong
Buona VistaCarved from Ulu Pandan
Braddell HeightsCarved from Paya Lebar, Serangoon Gardens, Thomson and Upper Serangoon
BrickworksCarved from Leng Kee and Pasir Panjang
Khe BongCarved from Kuo Chuan and Toa Payoh
Kolam AyerCarved from Geylang West, Kallang and Potong Pasir
Marine ParadeCarved from Joo Chiat
Radin MasCarved from Henderson and Telok Blangah
Defunct Constituencies
Bras BasahAbsorbed to Kampong Glam and Telok Ayer
CrawfordAbsorbed to Jalan Besar and Kampong Glam
Hong LimAbsorbed to Telok Ayer
Kampong KaporAbsorbed to Jalan Besar
Sepoy LinesAbsorbed to Anson, Tanjong Pagar and Tiong Bahru
StamfordAbsorbed to River Valley and Telok Ayer

Campaign

A total of 124 candidates contested the election. The ruling PAP was the only party to contest every one of 69 constituencies, while the five other opposition parties (namely Barisan Sosialis, the Singapore Justice Party, PKMS, the United Front and the Workers' Party) formed a Joint Opposition Council to cooperate at the polls. The Workers' Party nominated 22 candidates and United Front 14; no other party put forward more than six candidates, while two candidates ran as independents.

The election marked their political debut of two prominent candidates, independent Chiam See Tong and PAP Goh Chok Tong, who would went on to become the then-longest-serving opposition MP and the second Prime Minister, respectively.[3]

Results
Party Votes % Seats +/–
People's Action Party590,16974.169+4
Workers' Party91,96611.500
United Front53,3736.50New
Barisan Sosialis25,4113.200
United People's Front14,2331.80New
Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura9,2301.200
Singapore Justice Party5,1990.70New
People's Front2,8180.300
Independents4,1730.500
Invalid/blank votes18,558–––
Total815,13010069+4
Registered voters/turnout857,29795.1––
Source: Singapore Elections

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p254 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
  2. Parliamentary general election 1976 Singapore Elections
  3. Parliamentary general election 1976: Seats Singapore Elections
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.