NATIONAL REFERENDUM 1962

This first and only National Referendum held in Singapore to date was to decide on the island's position within the Federation of Malaysia after merging with the Peninsular. Main political parties campaigned for different alternatives. PAP stood for Alternative A - a full merger of Singapore, Peninsular Malaya and the Borneo states, with Singapore retaining powers over certain areas. SPA represented Alternative C, with Singapore's status no different from other states. BS called for voters to cast blank votes and reject merger as they did not agree to the inclusion of the Borneo territories but the PAP government had earlier ruled that blank votes would be counted as Alternative A. Despite so, Alternative A received a strong mandate by itself.

Polling day: 1 September 1962

Total voters: 624,000
Total voter turnout: 561,559 (90.0%)

RESULTS
ALTERNATIVE	CONDITIONS
A	"I support merger giving Singapore autonomy in labour, education and other agreed matters as set out in Command Paper No. 33 of 1961, with Singapore citizens automatically becoming citizens of Malaysia."
397,626 (71.1%)
B	"I support complete and unconditional merger for Singapore as a state on an equal basis with the other eleven states in accordance with the Constitutional documents of the Federation of Malaya."
9,422 (1.7%)
C	"I support Singapore entering Malaysia on terms no less favourable than those given to the Borneo territories."
7,911 (1.4%)
Blank votes	None of the above (reject merger)
144,077 (25.8%)

ALTERNATIVE A wins by 253,549 (45.3%) votes

Spoilt votes: 2,523 (0.4%)