Hong Kong government faces renewed calls to revamp voter registration rules in wake of anti-graft arrests
One IT sector association head calls for objective requirements for voter eligibility, while pan-democrat lawmaker says net should not be drawn too tightly
The Hong Kong government is facing renewed calls to reform its flawed voter registration rules after a major operation by the graft-buster exposed how easy it is to exploit loopholes in the system.
Some of the suspects were accused of accepting money via middlemen to register as electors by joining two professional organisations in the field – even though they should not have been qualified for membership.
The information technology sector is one of several Legco functional constituencies which allow anyone to register as voters as long as they are active members of certain professional groups.
IT sector stakeholders from across the political spectrum on Tuesday slammed the current practice, saying the government should not shed its gate-keeping responsibility.
“The government should come up with a set of objective requirements for voter eligibility, conduct regular inspections and prosecute unqualified voters instead of laying the blame on us [when irregularities arise],” said Witman Hung Wai-man, president of the Internet Professional Association (iProA), which is implicated in the controversy.