Hong Kong watchdog suggests reduced voting hours for city’s elections
- But political analyst warns blanket proposal by Electoral Affairs Commission could deprive public of right to vote
- Watchdog cites limited impact of reduced voting time during last year’s Election Committee poll, suggests wider application across city’s political system
Hongkongers could have less time to cast their ballots in future citywide polls after a government watchdog suggested reducing the opening hours at voting stations, citing the limited impact a briefer window had on turnout for last year’s Election Committee selection process.
But a political analyst on Tuesday warned that the recommendation from the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) could end up depriving some residents of their right to vote, explaining Hong Kong’s various polls had different compositions of electors, which could be affected by the blanket proposal.
Polls to select members of the 1,500-member Election Committee, which picks the chief executive and 40 members of the Legislative Council, were revamped under Beijing’s “patriots-only” shake-up last year.
The 4,889 eligible voters were allowed to cast their ballots at polling stations between 9am and 6pm, a shorter window than the previous 7.30am to 10.30pm.
In comparison, more than 4.5 million registered voters for the city’s Legco election must currently cast ballots at polling stations between 8.30am and 10.30pm, while sites for the district council poll are open from 7.30am to 10.30am.
But the commission found reducing the time allowed to vote, such as in the Election Committee polls, from 15 to nine hours, could prove useful if applied more widely.
“The adjusted polling hours have not affected voters’ willingness to vote,” the watchdog said, citing a “remarkably high” voter turnout of 89.77 per cent for the committee poll.
