The first Legislative Council election after the National People's Congress passed the improvement of Hong Kong's electoral system will be held on the 19th of this month. The two new crimes prohibit calling for non-voting or casting invalid votes and deliberately obstructing others from voting.
In an interview with "Hong Kong 01", the ICAC's Integrity Electoral Affairs Coordinator, Zhao Ruda, pointed out that manpower monitoring has been specially strengthened and law enforcement must be decisive.
Regarding the "public activities" and the forms of communication covered by the new provisions, he said that he would define them based on the overall situation and seek the advice of the Department of Justice to define them if necessary.
In addition, whether the polls provide the option of "not voting" will be suspected of illegality. He said that he will review the activities according to the criteria of the new regulations, including the content of the activity, the target audience, under what circumstances, and whether there are "hints" and "true deep meanings" in the process. , How to make the announcement, etc., are all considerations and cannot be generalized. What is a reasonable excuse must be handled by the court.
【ICAC.
Election topics.
New Legislation]
75% of 12 election complaints received involve reports inciting not to vote
The ICAC's Integrity Electoral Affairs Coordinator, Zhao Ruda, said that the ICAC has a 24-hour reporting hotline. This time, it has strengthened manpower monitoring. If any illegal content or propaganda is found, it must be enforced decisively.
When asked whether he took the initiative to monitor on which online platforms, Zhao Ruda said it was inconvenient to disclose the details of law enforcement. He only pointed out that the department has always investigated cases mainly from citizens, and some of them are referred by the department and the department will collect intelligence.
As of November 30, the ICAC has received a total of 12 complaints about the general election of this term of the Legislative Council. Among them, 9 involved publicly inciting others not to vote, voting in vain or invalid votes, and some of them involved public promotion on social media. message.
"Public activities" defined in the new regulations refer to public places regardless of whether they are public or not, and describe multiple forms of communication.
Zhao Ruda pointed out that the examples that are not mentioned in the clause do not mean that they are not regulated. It depends on the actual situation. "Many people mentioned how many people’s communications are called public activities first? Same friend, same three friends, four friends, How many are counted first? It depends on the overall situation. How many people are there, what kind of communication is involved, who is involved, and there is no simple statement to say whether this is a public activity or whether it is illegal, because it must look at the specifics. Circumstances, so if necessary, we will seek the advice of the Department of Justice to define it."
Will examine whether the polling process involves "hint" and deep meaning
When conducting questionnaire surveys on different public opinion research groups, the respondents were provided with the option of "not vote".
Zhao Ruda said: "Polling itself is not a new thing, but the law is new, so it is difficult to compare the past with the present, because there was no such law before." Under the new regulations, will polls be illegal? Examine the specific situation according to the criteria of the provisions, including the content of the activity, the target audience, and the circumstances under which the activity is carried out. "Polls can be done in many ways, and there are many factors to be considered."
Do you have to check the way of asking questions?
He emphasized that "the way to ask questions is only one of them. How to make the announcement and consider every situation, so it is very difficult for us to say whether the polls are illegal." Polls do not provide "no vote" or "vote in vain." , Can the option of "voting invalid votes" avoid the ban?
He believes that "there is no such a simple definition." It is necessary to examine whether there is "explicit" or "implied" in the process. He emphasized: "Is there any incitement? To look at it as a whole, in addition to looking at the superficial meaning, but also See what the real deep meaning means." After the investigation is launched, the Department of Justice will be consulted.
Whether the academic research purpose is reasonable justified is considered by the court
For some scholars who pointed out that the comprehensive options provided by the polls are for academic research purposes, Zhao Ruda reiterated that everything will be based on the law, "will there be some elements, those practices, will violate the law, and whether your words (for academic purposes) are reasonable excuses? What? Because the regulations allow for reasonable excuses, but they don’t say how to make a legal excuse. This has to be considered by the court."
Regarding whether there is no precedent and clear guidelines on whether academic work will be affected, Zhao Ruda pointed out that the ICAC is a law enforcement agency, and it depends on whether the conduct is illegal. "Those organizations have to make some considerations on their own. The most important thing is that they are familiar with the law, so why do we do good? The focus is on having a new law, and to do a good job in publicity and education, it is always a new law.” He reiterated the spirit of the two new laws, “After all, they are all about preventing elections from sabotaging and rigging elections. It is not that we restrict freedom of speech. , Academic freedom."
The ICAC stated that it has organized about 150 legal introduction seminars, 54 "regional pop-up publicity events" for groups, political parties, think tanks, chambers of commerce, and regional organizations that have newly added sub-sectors, and proactively reached out to elderly centers.
In addition, an online briefing session was held for all candidates of the Legislative Council, and the "Information Booklet on the Integrity of the Legislative Council Election" compiled by the ICAC was distributed.
In addition, the ICAC organized 50 seminars for about 30,000 polling station staff to remind people of the possible corruption risks involved in the voting and counting procedures.
Two new crimes. Article 14(1A) states that any person deliberately obstructing or preventing another person from voting in an election; or causing another person to obstruct or prevent a third person from voting in an election is a fraud and conviction The maximum sentence is seven years and a fine of 500,000 yuan.
Article 27A states that during the election period, inciting another person to refrain from voting or to cast an invalid vote through public activities is an illegal act. The maximum conviction is three years in prison and a fine of 200,000 yuan.
The definition of public activity in Article 27A refers to any form of communication to the public, whether in a public place or not, including speech, writing, printing, display of announcements, broadcasting, screen showing and playing of tapes or other recorded materials; And behaviors that can be observed by the public, such as actions, postures and gestures, and wearing or displaying clothes, signs, flags, marks and badges; and distributing or disseminating any materials to the public.
Legislative Council Election｜The ICAC has received 9 reports so far. Bai Yunliu: Free Will Voting No Criminal Responsibilities. The Public Research Poll was accused of sniping or inciting Bai Yun’s six fingers does not rule out violations that require comprehensive consideration for the Legislative Council Election｜Deng Pingqiang: www.enhance.net The patrol poll answering whether to vote depends on the purpose and intention of the ICAC wanted Xu Zhifeng and Yau Wenjun for inciting others to vote in the Legislative Council election and not to vote
