SINGAPORE, Sept 11 — After a frenzied nine days of campaigning, Singaporeans go to the polls from 8am today in an election notable for several firsts.

Polling stations will stay open till 8pm, and the first results are expected a few hours later. In a first, however, the Elections Department will release sample counts for all constituencies contested as soon as possible — these are expected by 10pm. The move, announced last week, is aimed at curtailing speculation and rumours about the outcome of contests, something that was fairly prevalent in the 2011 General Election.

Going by previous elections, the last results are expected after midnight, barring recounts, followed by traditional pre-dawn press conferences conducted by the winners.

Other firsts include the fact that all constituencies will be contested this time around, as well as a voting public that will comprise more people born after independence than ever before.

Yesterday was Cooling-off Day, only the second time the Republic is observing a 24-hour period in which no campaigning is allowed before polling stations open for a General Election.

Introduced before the 2011 GE, Cooling-off Day, as the name suggests, is meant to allow some of the heat from the hustings to dissipate, and give voters a chance to reflect on the issues at hand.

One exception to the no-campaigning rule was party political broadcasts — messages from party leaders to voters that were aired over television and radio last night. The time allotted to each party depends on the number of seats it is contesting.

The People’s Action Party (PAP), which is contesting all 89 seats, got the most airtime, 13 minutes, followed by the Workers’ Party (WP), whose slate of 28 candidates allowed it five-and-a-half minutes. A party has to contest a minimum of six seats before it gets a chance to go on air. Thus, the People’s Power Party, which put up only four candidates, did not leave a last-minute message for voters yesterday. The Singapore People’s Party, however, opted not to use its slot, despite having done so for the first round of political broadcasts on Sept 2.

In his message, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who heads the PAP, called on Singaporeans to vote for the ruling party “if you support what we have done together, if you look forward to the future we have sketched out and if you want to build a better Singapore for you and your children”.

Lee said the PAP will always serve the best interests of Singaporeans. “Unlike some Opposition parties, we do not write ourselves cheques that our children will have to pay. We do not make empty promises that we cannot fulfil,” he said.

He added that the PAP would always stand for clean and honest politics. “We take a hard stand against corruption and wrongdoing. When we discover anything wrong, we will bring it out into the open and take steps to put things right.”

Acknowledging that politics in Singapore is changing, he said: “Singaporeans’ views are becoming more diverse. The PAP welcomes full debates on national issues in Parliament, but this depends on the quality of the MPs (Members of Parliament), rather than their numbers.”

He added: “The social media enable all citizens to express themselves and be heard directly. Our Members of Parliament and activists hold meet-the-people sessions every week. They go door to door so that you can speak to us directly. We have been engaging Singaporeans widely to hear their aspirations and wishes for themselves and Singapore. That is how we have developed our policies, programmes and plans.”

The WP sent its chairman Sylvia Lim to deliver its English message, while WP chief Low Thia Khiang spoke in Mandarin.

Lim noted that the PAP has asked Singaporeans to “vote for the status quo, to continue the political system that has brought us to this crossroads today.”

“This crossroads is a mix of successes and failures. The ruling party has emphasised the successes and attributed them to its own talent and effort,” she said, adding that the ruling party has “run out of ideas and is chasing after failures” in housing, transport, healthcare, social welfare nets and costs of living.

Singapore needs “a new kind of politics”, she said. “Singapore is not the PAP. Singapore is now a mature and diverse society. We are ready for a Parliament with different political voices. A balanced Parliament is critical in assisting the Government to make sounder judgments about policy trade-offs. A balanced Parliament is critical in getting the ruling party to treat all citizens with decency and respect, including those who disagree.”

Similarly, the other parties stuck closely to themes they had expressed during the campaign, with a few parties bringing up the Central Provident Fund (CPF) system. The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), for example, said Singaporeans “can be trusted to manage our own money, including our own CPF at age 55 where we should be given the choice of whether we want to keep it in CPF or use it for some lifelong dream”.

SDP candidate for Holland-Bukit Timah, Professor Paul Tambyah, said: “A democratic society is one ruled by the people — not by elite natural aristocrats. The people of Singapore are mature and educated. We can think for ourselves.”

Delivering his party’s message, National Solidarity Party acting secretary-general Lim Tean called on Singaporeans to vote for his party if the Government “should honour its promise” to return CPF savings to people at 55 years old, among other things. “We shall fight for you in Parliament for these ideas which are important to you,” he added.

The elections are taking place in a year fraught with symbolism for Singapore. The country was plunged into a period of mourning and soul-searching when founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew died in March. Then, just last month, there was an outpuring of joy and unity as the country celebrated its Golden Jubilee.

These past few weeks, however, have brought political divisions to the fore, as the heat of a coming election exposed differing viewpoints over the country’s politics. Whatever Singapore awakens to tomorrow, members of the ruling party have spoken of the need to bring together the competing strands of the body politic.

Yesterday, however, few candidates were thinking ahead to tomorrow. For many, it was a time to sit back and reflect, and rest tired limbs given a battering by intense, 16-hour days of campaigning, many of which entailed climbing innumerable flights of steps, or running from house to house.

The SDP held a picnic at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Party chief Chee Soon Juan told TODAY he woke up yesterday thinking where the party would be meeting for its walkabout before realising the hustings were over. “After the nine days of just intense running around, preparing speeches, the logistical preparations... we needed a break... Just wanting to get together again and not having to talk about politics,” he said.

In response to media queries, Lee said he would be recording the second party political broadcast for the PAP and preparing for Polling Day with his team. Otherwise, it was back to business as he attended to his usual duties, which included holding this week’s Cabinet meeting. — TODAY