Despite the government's crackdown against vote-rigging, an incomplete inspection of the voters' list for the September election has found at least 161 names with suspicious or vague home addresses.
Addresses as brief as the name of a village or path - mostly in rural parts of New Territories West - were accepted as home addresses of eligible voters, a South China Morning Post reporter learned after scanning the list for about three hours. The reporter was not allowed to take notes while reading.
The finding has alarmed the district's candidates, who fear the incomplete information could open the door to foul play.
'We are very worried about the fairness and cleanness of the election,' said Gary Fan Kwok-wai, a candidate in New Territories West representing the new NeoDemocrat party. 'It seems that the government has still been unable to crack down on suspicious voters despite vowing to do so.'
A spokeswoman for the Registration and Electoral Office yesterday said the office tried to verify applicants' addresses, asking them for proof when incomplete information was submitted.
The crackdown against vote-rigging has knocked 216,000 people off the voters' list for failing to validate their home addresses.
The Post yesterday scanned the voters' list at the Registration and Electoral Office. The list of 3.47 million names was released on Wednesday.