Editorial | Defeat of ‘smart ballot boxes’ move a win for Hong Kong legislative process
System that sounds alert on voting papers not properly marked fails to impress Hong Kong lawmakers who stand by secret ballots
The secret ballot has been a security feature of democratic elections dating from the ancient Greeks and Romans, but becoming more widespread in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
It is now a fixture that promotes fair and competitive elections and helps deter efforts to manipulate voters using ballot buying or intimidation.
So it is perhaps little wonder that a government proposal to introduce a “smart ballot box” – designed to ensure people marked their votes properly, but also raising questions about secrecy and privacy – faced headwinds.
The government had been looking at this and other measures to enhance the efficiency of polls by leveraging advanced technology.
The boxes use sensors to read ballot papers for irregularities and immediately alert voters if they are not properly marked.
Using the technology would reduce the number of questionable or invalid voting slips and therefore speed up the process of tallying votes, Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, constitutional and mainland affairs secretary, said.
Few objected to the general notion of using such technology to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the election process. Lawmakers, however, raised concerns about the cutting-edge sensors undermining voting and secrecy. They were right to do so.
