Grenville Cross

Opinion | Don’t deny the vote to Hongkongers in mainland China because of overblown concerns about electoral fraud

Hong Kong’s ICAC, which oversees electoral fraud, has ample experience working with counterparts elsewhere to pursue offenders

Allowing the millions of Hongkongers living on the mainland to vote is long overdue, and authorities are capable of ensuring the process is ‘fair, open and honest’

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Grenville Cross

Published: 8:30am, 5 Nov 2020Updated: 8:35am, 5 Nov 2020

The Basic Law could not be clearer. It says that Hong Kong permanent residents “shall have the right to vote”. However, having the right to vote is one thing, exercising it is another, as electors living elsewhere in China know all too well.

Last month, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said the government would proactively improve the current electoral arrangements, and implement enhancement measures at an appropriate time. It is expected, therefore, that proposals will soon be unveiled to enable Hong Kong people based on the mainland to vote in the city’s elections. This would certainly be sensible, as there are some 540,000 permanent residents living in Guangdong province alone, with many eligible to vote.

Many of these voters find it impracticable, for work, family or other reasons, to return home to cast their ballots on a given date, particularly when border restrictions are in place. Since the government has been encouraging local people to take up opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, it is unfair for many of them to be effectively disenfranchised.

Although some people have asked if alternative methods are feasible, including electronic voting and postal ballots, it is wise to take one step at a time. As the mainland affairs bureau has emphasised, the integrity of the vote is the government’s priority, with elections being conducted in a “fair, open and honest manner”.

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If implemented, Hong Kong permanent residents living on the mainland would be able to vote at the government’s offices throughout the country. They are in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu, and the polling stations would be located there, with appropriate supervision. To facilitate this, the electoral law would have to be amended, so that the Registration and Electoral Office, which conducts the city’s elections, can also operate on the mainland.

Opinion | Don’t deny the vote to Hongkongers in mainland China because of overblown concerns about electoral fraud

Hong Kong’s ICAC, which oversees electoral fraud, has ample experience working with counterparts elsewhere to pursue offenders Allowing the millions of Hongkongers living on the mainland to vote is long overdue, and authorities are capable of ensuring the process is ‘fair, open and honest’

Hong Kong’s ICAC, which oversees electoral fraud, has ample experience working with counterparts elsewhere to pursue offenders

Allowing the millions of Hongkongers living on the mainland to vote is long overdue, and authorities are capable of ensuring the process is ‘fair, open and honest’