A total of 245 people have applied for political donation certificates for the May 3 General Election.
The Elections Department (ELD) said in a statement on April 20 that it had received the 245 requests by the April 19 application deadline. This means there could be as many candidates contesting the 97 seats in Parliament.
A number of parties typically apply for additional or standby certificates. There were 226 applications for political donation certificates for GE2020, although only 192 candidates submitted nomination papers to contest the 93 parliamentary seats then.
Singapore’s election rules require candidates to submit political donation forms, on which they have to record donations received and declare that the funds are permitted under the law.
This paperwork is needed to obtain political donation certificates, which the Registrar of Political Donations will issue by the eve of Nomination Day.
Candidates seeking election will have to submit these certificates with their nomination papers on Nomination Day on April 23.
They must also have a proposer, seconder and at least four assenters, who must all be eligible to vote in the constituency.