SINGAPORE: The die has been cast. We now know what the electoral boundaries will look like for Singapore's upcoming General Election, which has to be held by the end of November.

The report released on Tuesday (Mar 11) surprised many, with the redrawing of boundaries more extensive than expected. The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) noted that while the total number of electors has increased, the growth was not evenly distributed across various electoral districts.

Consequently, changes were made to reflect these demographic shifts. These changes mean that voters will see new constituency boundaries as well as renamed constituencies.

For example, a voter previously in Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC) might now instead be in West Coast-Jurong West GRC, Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC, Jurong Central SMC, or even Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

But does that mean that voting patterns will change completely this time round? The answer is not a straightforward yes or no.

CHANGES IN CANDIDATES AND PARTIES

For the coming election, only nine out of 31 constituencies have their boundaries intact from GE2020.

Most people, especially those who have been impacted by the boundary changes, will be presented with different candidates compared to 2020, from both the incumbent and opposition sides. Who voters will see on the ground engaging with them, as well as the parties that will be featured on their ballot paper can be markedly different.

To illust...