Start date 1976 | ||
 | ||
Winner Lee Kuan Yew | ||
General elections were held in Singapore on 23 December 1976. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won all 69 seats, the third of four consecutive elections in which they repeated the feat. Voter turnout was 95.1% in the 53 constituencies that were contested, with PAP candidates elected unopposed in the other sixteen.
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Electoral system
The 69 members of Parliament were elected from 69 single-member constituencies, an increase from 65 used for the previous elections in 1972. Six constituencies were abolished and ten new ones created. The deposit was increased for the first time, rising to $1,200 from $500.
Although the total electorate was 1,095,817, 238,520 were based in the 16 uncontested seats, leaving 857,297 voters eligible to vote on election day.
Campaign
A total of 124 candidates contested the election; the PAP were the only party to run in all 69 constituencies, as five opposition parties – Barisan Sosialis, the Singapore Justice Party, PKMS, the United Front and the Workers' Party – formed a Joint Opposition Council to cooperate at the polls. The Workers' Party nominated 22 candidates and United Front 14; no other party put forward more than six candidates. Two people ran as independents, including Chiam See Tong, who later became Singapore's longest-serving opposition MP.