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Hong Kong elections
Hong KongPolitics

Streamline procedures, improve in ‘areas of incompetence’ for coming Hong Kong polls, election watchdog says

  • Electoral Affairs Commission says prolonged counting time for Election Committee race in September was ‘far beyond expectations’
  • Its report offers 8 measures, including fixing programming errors in Electronic Poll Register system, increasing number of polling stations and better planning

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Government officers tally votes for the Election Committee race at a counting station in Wan Chai in September. Photo: Sam Tsang
Nadia Lam

Hong Kong’s election watchdog has urged the government to streamline procedures, deploy experienced staff and improve in “areas of incompetence”, as it completed its investigation into the vote count delay of a recent major poll.

The Election Committee race on September 19, the first poll under a Beijing-decreed overhaul of the political system, had been closely watched by the local and central governments.

But electoral officials had made mistakes in the delivery of documents, spending much time cross-checking ballots and tackling paper jams in vote-counting machines, leading to a 14-hour wait for the results.

Mistakes such as spending much time cross-checking ballots led to a 14-hour wait for the results of the Election Committee race in September. Photo: Sam Tsang
Mistakes such as spending much time cross-checking ballots led to a 14-hour wait for the results of the Election Committee race in September. Photo: Sam Tsang

Releasing an investigation report on polling and counting arrangements on Friday, a spokesman for the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) maintained that the prolonged counting time was “far beyond expectations”.

“The EAC is of the view that the [Registration and Electoral Office] should enhance efficiency of the process to avoid delays, without sacrificing the accuracy of counting results. It is also necessary to strive for improvement in areas of incompetence,” the spokesman said.

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