Pan-democratic parties flocked to the election watchdog yesterday to lodge more complaints about the records of over 550 voters with suspicious or false residential addresses, warning they could be “the tip of the iceberg”. A flood of cases reported to the Registration and Electoral Office recently included complaints by residents of unknown people registering their home addresses for voting in the district council elections in November. Among new cases yesterday were voters registering addresses that do not exist, and seven or eight voters registering as living together in flats of 200 to 300 sq ft. In one case a voter claimed to be living in a hospital.
Mak Tak-ching of the Labour Party, who led colleagues to file 300 cases to the office, said such irregularities were widespread in constituencies including Tsuen Wan, Hung Hom, Sai Wan Ho and Ma On Shan. “We believe it is only the tip of the iceberg. The electoral office should take it seriously and proactively launch an investigation,” Mak said.
Democratic Party community officer Winfield Chong Wing-fai, whose party reported about 50 suspected vote-planting cases, accused the office of laxity. “There is one case of a voter who registered a power distribution transformer station as the home address. This could not have been accepted in the first place if the office was serious about its work,” said Chong.
The Post has previously reported on voters claiming they live in hotel rooms, the Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui, and parks. Civic Party lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching warned that such irregularities could erode confidence in the election system.
Full Article: ‘Tip of the iceberg’: Warning from pan-democratic parties over 400 suspicious Hong Kong voter records | South China Morning Post.