Saturday, October 15, 2011

Presidential Election 2011: Candidates paid for extra expenses

Oct 6, 2011


All 4 used own money to make up shortfall; publicity expenses made up bulk of spending



By Teo Wan Gek

He lost by a whisker to Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam in the presidential race, but Dr Tan Cheng Bock topped the list in both the money he spent on his campaign and the donations he received.

His expenses came up to $585,045.03. This works out to 44 per cent of the $1.32 million that all the four candidates spent, according to Elections Department records that are open for public inspection. But what he spent is more than the $524,620.38 he received from donors.

Of the more than $60,000 deficit, his campaign treasurer Joseph Oh, 38, said: 'Dr Tan paid for the shortfall out of his own pocket.'

President Tan, who won by a margin of 0.35 percentage point against Dr Tan, spent $503,070. His donations, on the other hand, totalled $338,000.

[Analysis:
Eelctions in Singapore are cheap. Over 2 million voters and costs is just over a million. Here's the breakdown by Candidates.
Based on the votes they got, in terms of expenditure per vote, TCB paid about 79 cents per vote, the highest of the 4. TKL is second with 68 cents per vote. Prez Tan "bought" the presidency at 67 cent per vote. TJS was the most economical spending only about 31 cents per vote.
In terms of shortfall, Prez Tan paid the most out of his own pocket: $165k. TJS is second with $127k. TCB put in $60k of his own money, while TKL tossed in about $16k, not counting the loss of his deposit.
Using their own money, the votes cost TJS the most at 24 cents per vote. Prez is second with 22 cents per vote. TKL paid 15 cents per vote and TCB paid the least with just 8 cents of his own money per vote.
The other thing to note about the figures. Prez Tan donors seem to be all Corporate donors. Nice round numbers at $338,000 exactly. TKL had supporters who literally put in their 2 cents. ($55,024.82).

Just sayin'.]


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