Pro-establishment DAB party gets residents of elderly home to sign up after offeringgifts
JEFFIE LAMjeffie.lam@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Monday, 07 September, 2015, 2:23am
UPDATED : Monday, 07 September, 2015, 1:13pm
Some 63 per cent of all 114,950 new voter registrations this year were from citizens above the age of 56. Photo: Franke Tsang
Almost two in three people who registered as voters this year were aged 56 or older - and homes for the elderly emerged as the main source of the registration spike, a study by the South China Morning Post has found.
Some 63 per cent of all 114,950 new registrations were from citizens above that age, Registration and Electoral Office figures showed. Those registered will be able to vote in district council elections in November.
Acknowledging the elderly's right to vote, scholars and district councillors, however, expressed concern that they might risk being manipulated, especially when most of the centres were identified as "care and attention homes" housing those suffering from poor health or mild physical or mental disabilities.
A caretaker at an elderly home in Kowloon City told thePost that the main pro-establishment party had encouraged residents to register as voters by giving out gifts at the same time.
"Lam Tak-sing of the Hong Kong Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong visited the centre almost every month and gave out presents to the residents, such as fruit, rice packs and moon cakes," a caretaker at the Kam Ma Home of Aged said on condition of anonymity.
"He usually comes in a team of five and asks if we have any newcomers who have not yet enrolled as voters."
The number of voters in the care home doubled from 24 to 48 in the past year - well over half of all residents.
"The old residents who had difficulties signing the registration form simply write a cross on the form … in our presence," the caretaker said, adding that Lam had been an active visitor for almost two years.
The caretaker said Lam had suggested arranging coaches to send disabled people to the polling station on election day.
"Many of our residents have remembered Lam in their hearts," she said, adding that the elderly home itself had no political stance and would not teach the residents how to vote.
In response, Lam told the Post he had only responded to the government's call to encourage residents to register as voters.
"We visit the care homes on a regular basis … We only want to serve the elderly and have not considered other things," he said, sidestepping the question of whether gifts had been handed out and whether he had promised to arrange coaches.
There were 30 voter registrations at the Kwai Fong Care and Attention Home for the Aged. Just one person was registered last year. But the caretaker there said only around 10 residents had a clear mind.
The Post compared the voter statistics of seven out of the city's 18 districts and found that the number of registered voters at private elderly homes in Tai Po shot up five times, from last year's 68 to 341 this year.
Kowloon City district councillor Pius Yum Kwok-tung said what Lam had allegedly done could have violated legislation on corrupt practices during polls.
"Arranging coaches to polling stations might be offering elderly people an incentive to vote, especially when [Lam] has been regularly offering small favours to them," said Yum of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood.
"I acknowledge elders' right to vote, but I cannot side with such ways to lure people to be voters," he said. "The problem is many of these are care and attention homes and I doubt if all residents have the ability to vote on their own."
Chinese University political scientist Dr Ma Ngok said old voters had always been targeted by political parties as they were easier to be mobilised compared with young people.
"Assisting elderly people to register as voters is not illegal, but the care homes should stay politically neutral and submit application forms [to the Registration and Electoral Office] themselves and ensure these forms do not end up in the hands of political parties," he said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1855887/hong-kong-elderly-sign-droves-vote-district-council-elections
