Can foreign voters vote in the Legislative Council election soon?

The nomination period for the December Legislative Council election is about to begin. The Electoral Affairs Commission issued guidelines for the election of the Legislative Council on Monday (25th).

However, the guidelines did not resolve the issue of whether foreign voters can vote. The chairman of the EAC, Feng Hua, said he has no authority to deal with this matter and has not received any notice so far.

The responsible Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau should clearly explain the arrangements.

Based on the statistics of the Mainland, local and foreign populations, the number of overseas residents in Hong Kong is estimated to be hundreds of thousands. If 30 of them are voters and would like to vote, that would be more than 100,000, accounting for 3% to 4% of Hong Kong's total voters.

Perhaps in terms of the number of voters, this group of voters will not have a critical impact, but from the perspective of rights, as long as it can, the government should also protect eligible people from exercising their right to vote.

Before the end of the original legislative session last year, the community had already proposed options for barriers, mailing, and electronic voting. The government had also postponed the election period in response to the epidemic. However, it has not yet seen any comment and appears indecisive.

The department responsible for voting qualifications is the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau. The EAC is only authorized by the law to issue guidelines for election activities, reminding candidates and related parties of the electoral laws and formulating codes of conduct.

Feng Hua, Chairman of the EAC, announced the new arrangements.

(Photo by Yu Junliang)

After a year of wasted and still to no avail

The EAC issued a report as early as October last year, suggesting that the government should prepare enough time for the Registration and Electoral Office to register for overseas voters, arrange enough staff, etc., and submit the plan to the Legislative Council for resolution.

The Government’s "Policy Address" in November last year also stated that it "studied the establishment of polling and counting stations in the Mainland."

However, one year later, it seems that the authorities have not held relevant consultation activities publicly to allow Hong Kong people inside and outside Hong Kong to express their opinions on whether other voting methods should be included or selected individual places to be opened for voting.

Parliamentarians and political parties continued to question the progress this year, and the government still seemed hesitant.

The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Zeng Guowei, said in January this year that "we are making every effort to improve the electoral system and arrangements for legislative amendments. Later, when there are specific plans, they will be submitted to the Legislative Council for deliberation as soon as possible."

By the end of September, Zeng Guowei was questioned again in the Legislative Council. He only stated that the legal and technical matters were still not secure, and he only confirmed that he was studying the setting up of a ticketing station at the border.

Until the "Poli Special voting arrangements", but the specific method has not yet been finalized.

By Feng Hua's statement this Monday, it seems that the bureau still has no final decision.

In addition to the fact that voters may not be able to vote, the candidates and the EAC cannot judge whether resources should be arranged to canvass votes and to prepare for manpower logistics.

The voting arrangements for the Legislative Council election have become the focus.

The establishment has always been keen to promote Hong Kong people in the Mainland to vote.

(Profile picture)

You must also explain whether you go to the horse or not

Why is the government so procrastinated?

Perhaps the authorities had been busy dealing with the bill to improve the electoral system ordinances before May, and immediately after that they had to arrange elections for the Election Committee subsectors in accordance with the new regulations.

However, no matter how the method of the electoral system is changed, the issue of overseas voters has to be dealt with.

It is true that mailing and online voting are not commonly used overseas, and it is understandable that they are not implemented in Hong Kong at the moment.

If after the Hong Kong government fights, the mainland is worried about the risk of epidemic prevention at the border ticketing station, the Hong Kong government should also explain it as soon as possible so that the candidates and the EAC will focus on local elections.

The Legislative Council has discussed the reform of voters’ qualifications many times in the past. In particular, there is no clear definition of what is meant by "usually residing in Hong Kong."

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said in a statement a few days ago that whether it is "should take a longer view" in urban planning, land development, housing construction, etc., what about the electoral system?

The society looks forward to the resumption of population mobility after the epidemic, and Hong Kong people will still run around. Even if this election is only held within the territory, sooner or later the government will propose a reform direction for the voting system that caters to population mobility.

The Legislative Council election is approaching. The government is not dragging the Election Committee to kick off the prelude to the election. Hong Kong has entered the reform process.