You know what they say? Money talks and GE2020 is proof of that.
The three biggest winners of GE2020 are arguably the People’s Action Party (PAP), the Workers’ Party (WP) and the Progress Singapore Party (PSP).
And according to ELD’s record, they’re the biggest spenders in this round as well.
More Than $9 Million Spent by Candidates During GE2020
On 21 Aug 2020, it was reported that a total of $9.2 million was spent by all parties during GE2020.
This was revealed by the Elections Department (ELD) on Friday, and the record is available for inspection for the next six months.
As for why there’s such a thing, it’s because of the rule that each candidate can only spend a maximum of $4 on each voter during GE2020.
Every party has 31 days after the election is over to submit their returns under the Parliamentary Elections Act.
$9.2 million is a 30% increase from GE2015 where the parties spent a total of $7.1 million.
PAP, WP & PSP Spent the Most
This round, PAP spent the most amount of money by far, $6.97 million.
While that sounds impressive, you have to remember that they are contesting all 93 seats, so it comes down to $2.63 per voter.
The 10 opposition parties and the single candidate, on the other hand, spent a total of $2.19 million.
PSP is the second-biggest spender, spending $781,275, or $1.19 per voter.
Workers’ Party comes next with $705,647, spending $1.21 per voter.
WP had contested in 6 constituencies while PSP contested in 9.
Individual Voter Spent More Per Voter Compared To Opposition Parties
In GE2020, there was a single independent candidate who was running for the Pioneer SMC seat.
He had spent a total of $31,537 on his campaign, which comes down to about $1.28 per voter.