District elections | Online posts call for “two ticks” in voting. The Registration and Electoral Office: It is illegal to incite invalid votes

The first district council election after the restructuring will be held on December 10. Directly elected seats will be changed to a two-seat, single-vote system, and a total of 88 district councilors will be elected. A few days ago, a post appeared in an online group. Someone posted, “I remind everyone that each constituency has two seats, so everyone needs to put two ticks on the ballot.” The ICAC issued a press release yesterday to “remind” members of the public not to participate in illegal appeals. Today (30th), the Electoral Office also issued a press release reminding that only one “tick” mark can be placed on the ballot paper and reiterated that it is illegal to incite not to vote or to cast an invalid vote.

Directly elected seats in District Council elections currently adopt a two-seat, single-vote system, that is, each elector can cast one vote, and the two candidates with the highest votes in each constituency are elected. But a few days ago, an online group with more than 100,000 members reposted a picture of the Sing Tao Daily report on the FTU swearing-in meeting. In addition to quoting FTU Wu Qiubei’s statement that the “black violence” in 2019 caused ” “It’s unfair.” “This humiliation will be avenged on December 10 and I will take back my seat.” The post also stated that “the Federation of Trade Unions has the characteristics that they do not have.” It also pointed out in the post, “Everyone mentions that everyone There are two seats in the constituency, so everyone has to mark two seats on the ballot.”

Registration and Electoral Office: There can only be one “tick” mark on the ballot paper

The Registration and Electoral Office issued a press release today to pay attention to the incident, stating that some people online recently called on voters to put two “tick” marks on their District Council election ballots, thereby invalidating the ballots. The Registration and Electoral Office reiterated that according to relevant regulations, voters can only vote in In the designated circle next to the name of the relevant candidate on the ballot paper, stamp a “tick” mark with the “tick” mark seal provided by the polling station to clearly indicate the candidate chosen by the vote. Each elector can only vote for the candidate selected on the ballot paper. The selected candidate is stamped with a “tick” mark, that is, there can only be one “tick” mark on the ballot paper, otherwise the ballot paper will be invalid.

The Registration and Electoral Office stated that according to the relevant provisions of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance, any person who uses public activities to incite others not to vote or to cast invalid votes during the election period is guilty of an offense and, upon conviction, may be sentenced to up to 3 years’ imprisonment. and a fine of NT$200,000.

ICAC: We will strictly enforce the law

The Independent Commission Against Corruption also issued a press release yesterday, saying that according to the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance, ticking two marks will invalidate the ballot. Anyone who incites others to invalidate the ballot may violate Section 27A of the Election Ordinance. The ICAC reiterates that it will strictly enforce the law regardless of whether the conduct is committed within Hong Kong or elsewhere.

After the restructuring, the number of directly elected seats was greatly reduced to less than 20%

The restructured District Council consists of 179 appointed members, 27 ex-officio members, 88 directly elected members and 176 district committee members. Among them, the number of directly elected seats has been greatly reduced, from more than 90% of the total number in the past to less than 20%. The whole territory has been redivided into 44 constituencies, and 88 district councilors have been elected, using a two-seat single-vote system. Members of the regional committee sector are elected by unanimous votes by members of the “three committees”.