Some voters continue to be registered at addresses where they no longer live. Picture on the right shows uncollected mail at Po Fat Building at Belcher’s Street. Photos: Apple Daily, reo.gov.hk
New complaints of voter list irregularities in Western District
Four abandoned buildings in the Western District are still being used as the registered address of as many as 79 voters in the run-up to the district council elections, according to Apple Daily.
The finding suggests that errant voters have slipped past the checks of electoral officers, the paper noted.
Democratic Party’s Winfield Chong Wing-fai, who narrowly lost out to Cheung Kwok-kwan of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) by 24 votes at the last District Council election in 2011, said the situation has not improved at all as people were using vacant and demolished premises as registered addresses.
The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) declined to comment when asked if it has carried out any operations in relation to invalid-address complaints over the last four years, the report said.
Po Fat Building, located at 34 Belcher’s Street, is among the list of invalid addresses provided by local voters.
Chong filed a complaint to the REO four years ago that the building was being used as the residential address by some people despite the fact that it was no longer occupied.
At the time, the building was acquired by Rich Field Group, now renamed as Winfull Group Holdings (0183.HK). Now the building is owned by Sun Hung Kai Properties and is still lying vacany. However, there are still 46 voters having their addresses at the building.
Three other buildings on Catchick Street, nearby Po Fat Building, are also home to some 33 voters for the upcoming election in November.
Chong hit out at the REO for failing to fulfill its duties to ensure that elections are held in a fair manner. The agency failed to act on complaints of voter irregularities even though it was informed of the problems four years ago, he said.
Incumbent District Councilor Cheung Kwok-kwan said he is not aware of the matter pointed out by Chong.
However, he added that it might not be practical to expect all the people to immediately notify the District Councilors whenever the people move homes.
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