JEFFIE LAMjeffie.lam@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 26 November, 2015, 11:52pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 26 November, 2015, 11:52pm
Some residents in elderly homes had apparently been registered without their consent, while two district councillors also complained their registered addresses were secretly changed by others. Photo: Sam Tsang
Proof of residence will be needed for new voter registrations in future under a proposal released by the government on Thursday aimed at eliminating electoral vote-rigging.
The consultation paper was revealed after the city's courts were swamped with around 1,500 complaints about voter irregularities ahead of Sunday's district council elections.
While some residents in elderly homes had apparently been registered without their consent, two district councillors also complained their registered addresses were secretly changed by others.
Under the proposal, on which the public can voice their views until January 8, residents would be required to submit proof of address when submitting a new registration application or changing the details of an existing registration.
A proof-of-address proposal was floated fours years ago by the government after media unearthed a number of vote-rigging scandals in the district polls, but it failed to win enough support.
Of the paper's 10 suggestions, penalties for making false statements in voter registration applications are to be raised from the current maximum fine of HK$5,000 and imprisonment of six months to a fine of HK$10,000 and two years' jail.
Democratic Party vice-chairman Andrew Wan Siu-kin, who earlier lodged 33 complaints against voter irregularities - with 16 of those approved - said the penalties were still insufficient to discourage vote-rigging.
He suggested it should be raised to a fine of HK$500,000 and imprisonment of seven years, the same punishment for corrupt practices at elections, as stated in the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1884013/hong-kong-government-proposes-proof-address-requirement
