customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

summary

updatedDate

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Elizabeth Cheung

Fiona Sun

The failure of the electronic poll register system during last month’s district council election in Hong Kong was not due to external attacks but rather problems with computer programs that unnecessarily tied up server resources, an investigation into the glitch has found.
Announcing its interim findings on the malfunction, the Electoral Affairs Commission on Friday also said more than 2,000 voters were not included in the turnout rate given by authorities right after balloting closed for the December 10 poll.
But commission chairman Mr Justice David Lok Kai-hong dismissed concerns that the poll result could be legally challenged in light of the latest revelation, insisting all votes had been accurately counted under public scrutiny.
“I am entirely not worried about the election results being affected,” he said.

The December poll, the first district council election held under Beijing’s “patriots-only” governing rule, was briefly interrupted by the system failure in the electronic voter registration system which prevented ballot papers from being issued.
Lok said at the time that the hiccup was unexpected as the system had passed a three-tier certification, and insisted a 90-minute polling extension was necessary to allow voters who had headed home after learning about the glitch to cast their ballots as he made a teary apology to members of the public.
The election drew a record low turnout amid a widespread sense of voter apathy.
Senior Counsel Bernard Man, who chaired the investigation panel, on Friday said the central processing unit (CPU) of the register system became overloaded at 7.37pm on election day.
Polling stations started using the printed copy of the electoral roll to issue ballots under a contingency plan, and a 90-minute voting extension was arranged.
The investigation found the utilisation rate of the system server’s CPU had reached almost 100 per cent. The higher load was due to design issues with two programs of the system, which caused computation time to increase as polling went along.
Another design issue of the system caused some work requests to unnecessarily take up substantial server resources, creating problems with issuing paper ballots, Man said.
Hong Kong’s new district councils will be more ‘constructive’: John Lee
The two program issues that led to the glitch involved design changes made by the Information Technology Management Division of the Registration and Electoral Office to meet the operational needs of the poll, he said.
“The technical team of the Registration and Electoral Office did not fully consider the loading that might be induced to the system during actual operation, and therefore did not conduct sufficient and comprehensive load testing,” Man said.
He said the team failed to adequately explain the details of the alterations – which it considered to be “minor” – and the possible impacts to the two upper tiers involved in certifying the system, namely an independent contractor and an expert advisory panel.
Hong Kong printed 1.5 million posters, leaflets for district council election
Asked whether anyone in the technical team should be held accountable, Man said the investigation panel was only responsible for determining the cause of the glitch and making recommendations. Any issues of accountability would be handled by the executive branch under established procedures, he added.
Man said the interim report would not be made public as it included design details of the system and the release could have an adverse impact on its security.
The investigation also ruled out the possibility of an attack on the “closed” system as no records of external devices attempting to access the register were discovered.
Lok also revealed an error was made in calculating the number of voters and the turnout rate given right after the election. The total turnout was 1,195,331 voters, or 2,138 more than was previously announced, he said. The turnout rate has been revised from 27.54 per cent to 27.59 per cent.

He said the error was due to the manual calculation of paper ballots by electoral staff, following the failure of the electronic system.
“Given the larger number of polling stations and due to the tight time frame for publishing the voter turnout, there was an error in the calculation by the electoral staff concerned, and the number of electors who voted at dedicated polling stations was omitted from the calculation,” Lok said.
He was referring to polling stations set up in correctional facilities and police stations for voters being detained.
But he stressed that those omitted ballots had been sent to the main counting stations and included in the number of votes obtained by each candidate.
The interim report was submitted to Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Friday, and a full one is due within three months of the election.
179 ‘patriots’ appointed to Hong Kong district councils; dozens lost in 2019 race
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai said the commission would submit recommendations on improvements to the government.
Authorities would work with the commission and Registration and Electoral Office to study and implement the recommendations to ensure similar incidents would not happen again, he told local media.
“We want to reiterate that despite the incident, it did not prevent this district council election from being a success,” he said.
New People’s Party chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said the lack of a load test behind the system failure was “unsatisfactory and disappointing”.
“The responsibility to ensure adequate testing does not rest solely with the IT staff of the Registration and Electoral Office,” she said.
“The head of the Registration and Electoral Office, a very senior executive officer of directorate rank, as well as the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau officials responsible for setting up the electoral systems, all share responsibility for this failure.”
Stanley Ng Chau-pei, president of the Federation of Trade Unions, said that although the interim findings provided some explanations for the glitch, many details had yet to be explained, such as why the system was overloaded, what changes were made to it and how maintenance was conducted.
He urged the authorities to further look into the incident and handle accountability based on the findings.


Devil in the details in Hong Kong’s efforts to raise housing game

US warning on Hong Kong won’t hurt city as firms favour ‘profits over politics’: observers

Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong sign cybersecurity deal to boost Greater Bay Area ties

51% of Hongkongers say city’s extreme weather policies ineffective, Greenpeace survey finds

Hong Kong politics

Overloaded server caused system crash during Hong Kong’s district council poll, inquiry finds

A ballot box is emptied at a polling station in San Po Kong early on December 11 last year. Photo: Dickson Lee

The results of the interim investigation was announced on Friday. Photo: Dickson Lee

A polling station in Wong Tai Sin. According to the commission, the electronic voter registration system started experiencing problems at 7.42pm on December 10. Photo: Dickson Lee

179 ‘patriots’ appointed to Hong Kong’s district councils, including dozens of defeated candidates from 2019 poll

At least 19 government appointees, nearly 11 per cent of the total, are incumbent district councillors. Photo: Elson Li

Members of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong meet the media on Monday. The party holds 31.2 per cent of the 470 seats. Photo: Sam Tsang

The Federation of Trade Unions has added 16 appointed seats to the 27 it won earlier, making it the second most dominant party. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong’s new district councils will be more ‘constructive’, members to be monitored for performance, city leader John Lee says

Voters at a polling station in Sheung Shui. Sunday’s district council election was the first since an overhaul to align the municipal-level bodies with Beijing’s principle that only “patriots” should be in charge. Photo: Elson LI

Chief Executive John Lee says the revamped municipal-level bodies will focus on livelihood issues and district matters, and members will be “readily available” to help. Photo: Sun Yeung

News

Hong Kong

Politics

Investigation finds utilisation rate of system server’s CPU reached almost 100 per cent on election day
Electoral Affairs Commission also reveals that more than 2,000 voters not included in turnout rate, but says final results not affected


Electoral Affairs Commission also reveals that more than 2,000 voters not included in turnout rate, but says final results not affected.


Hong Kong district council election

Overloaded server caused system crash during Hong Kong’s district council poll, inquiry finds

Investigation finds utilisation rate of system server’s CPU reached almost 100 per cent on election day Electoral Affairs Commission also reveals that more than 2,000 voters not included in turnout rate, but says final results not affected

Investigation finds utilisation rate of system server’s CPU reached almost 100 per cent on election day

Electoral Affairs Commission also reveals that more than 2,000 voters not included in turnout rate, but says final results not affected