Presidential elections were held in Singapore on 27 August 2011. Incumbent president S. R. Nathan, who had been elected unopposed in 1999 and 2005, did not seek re-election. It was the fourth elected Singaporean presidential election, as well as the second to be contested by more than one candidate.
A non-partisan position, the candidates contesting in the election were Tony Tan, Tan Cheng Bock, Tan Jee Say and Tan Kin Lian, who were all independents or had resigned from any political parties that they had previously been members of. They were all issued the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) as well as a community certificate to be able to contest in the election as per the eligibility requirements.
Singaporeans were unusually divided in this election; Tony Tan only received 35.20% of the vote, slightly edging out Tan Cheng Bock by a mere 7,382 votes or 0.35% who received 34.85% – which led to an election recount. The other two candidates, Tan Jee Say and Tan Kin Lian, received 25.04% and 4.91% of the votes respectively, with the latter ultimately losing his election deposit for failing to secure over 12.5% of the total votes cast. As there are no runoff elections if candidates received less than 50% of the total votes cast, Tan was inaugurated as the seventh President of Singapore on 1 September 2011 with a relative majority result.