Representation: How many voters does it take to control Parliament?

For all the controversy about GRCs, it turns out that the system  is still relatively equitable. In theory, 45.8% of the 2006 electorate can elect a majority to Parliament.

We took the number of voters in each constituency in 2006, and divided it by the number of seats in that constituency to get the number of voters per seat (Rounded to nearest integer). The data is presented here in ascending order.

By going down the list, we find that 43 seats can be most easily reached by getting the top 14 constituencies in this list. These constituencies have a combined total of 989,841 voters, out of the 2,159,721 voters in Singapore.

However, half of the voters in each constituency would be sufficient to win there. Such an approach would suggest that 494,925 strategically placed voters (or 22.9% of the electorate) could theoretically elect the next Parliament. Of course, all of this is just an thought experiment.

The real value of the list above is that it suggests which constituency is ripe for redistricting. In this aspect, Nee Soon East SMC and Sembawang GRC are likely to be redistricted, while Potong Pasir SMC and Jalan Besar GRC will probably be expanded. But one wonders if the authorities really do dare to redistrict Potong Pasir SMC.