In 1988, the
People's Action Party (PAP) introduced Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) through an amendment to the Parliamentary Elections Act. The
President, acting on the advice of the
Prime Minister and guided by the
Elections Department, may establish GRCs consisting of three to five electoral wards. The maximum size of GRCs has varied over time: initially three candidates, increasing to four in 1991, six between 1997 and 2020, and then reduced to five from the 2020 elections onwards. Voting within GRCs follows a
plurality voting system, where the party or group winning the most votes in a GRC secures all seats within that constituency. As a result, a party can accumulate a significant number of votes nationally but still fail to win certain GRCs. Historically, the PAP held all GRC seats until 2011. The official purpose of GRCs, as explained by former Prime Minister
Goh Chok Tong, is to ensure minority representation in Parliament and maintain a multiracial composition.
Response Opposition parties have criticised that the GRC system in making it more difficult for non-PAP candidates to win seats in Parliament. The high candidate deposit, which ranges from S$4,000 to S$16,000 and was most recently set at S$13,500 per candidate, increases the financial burden on opposition parties contesting GRCs. The opposition has also raised concerns about last-minute boundary changes and has pointed to examples such as
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaratnam's 1981 win in the
Anson constituency, arguing that minority representation in Parliament has diminished since the GRC system was introduced. The boundaries of electoral constituencies in Singapore are set by the
Elections Department, which functions under the
Prime Minister's Office. These boundaries are typically announced shortly before elections, often only a few days before the election is officially called. Some observers have expressed concern over this process, particularly regarding the dissolution of constituencies where opposition parties had performed well. One frequently cited example in discussions about electoral boundary adjustments is
Cheng San GRC. In the
1997 Singaporean general election, it was contested closely by the PAP and the
Workers' Party of Singapore (WP), with the PAP winning 54.8% of the vote to WP’s 45.2%. Following the
2001 Singapore general election, Cheng San GRC was dissolved. Despite the challenges faced by opposition parties, the WP has since achieved success in winning GRCs, notably
Aljunied GRC in the
2011 Singapore general election and
Sengkang GRC in the
2020 Singaporean general election. ==Current electoral map (2025 – present)==