Letters | Hong Kong elections: why worry about protest ballots when there is mass support?

Given that 2.38 million professed support for the electoral changes in a signature campaign, pro-Beijing legislators should win the Legco elections by a landslide

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China’s flag is displayed at a stall where residents can sign in favour of changes to the local electoral system in Hong Kong on March 11. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:55am, 21 Apr 2021Updated: 6:55am, 21 Apr 2021

Why is the government so concerned about people casting blank ballots, spoiling their ballot papers or not showing up to vote? Has there not just been a massive signature collection campaign in which 2.38 million people in Hong Kong certified their support for the electoral improvements?

It is, I think, reasonable to presume that each of these signatories would continue to show their support by turning out in December to cast their votes for one of the Legislative Council candidates chosen for them, but I am willing to be corrected by the organisers of the signature campaign if my logic is somehow awry.

According to the government’s own statistics in the 2016 Legco elections, 2.2 million people, or 58.3 per cent of those registered, turned out to vote in the geographical constituencies, an improvement over the 53.05 per cent turnout rate in 2012.

Assuming the population of registered voters remains similar to in 2016, if each of the 2.38 million signatories continued to show their support for the electoral improvements by voting, the turnout rate would be about 63 per cent, a massive improvement over 2016 and a record for recent times. So, again, what is the government so worried about?

02:34

China’s top legislative body passes sweeping Hong Kong electoral reforms

If the turnout in December indicates that people think this electoral overhaul is a comprehensive sham, then I have no doubt government officials will find anyone to blame but themselves. Or perhaps they will blame it on their decision to hold the elections on the last major shopping day before Christmas? Or the fact that their idea to allow Hong Kong residents living in Guangdong province to vote seems to have been dropped?