Hong Kong elderly sign up in droves to vote in district council elections

Almost two in three people who registered as voters this year were aged 56 or older - and homes for the elderly emerged as the main source of the registration spike, a study by the South China Morning Post has found.

Some 63 per cent of all 114,950 new registrations were from citizens above that age, Registration and Electoral Office figures showed. Those registered will be able to vote in district council elections in November.

Acknowledging the elderly's right to vote, scholars and district councillors, however, expressed concern that they might risk being manipulated, especially when most of the centres were identified as "care and attention homes" housing those suffering from poor health or mild physical or mental disabilities.

A caretaker at an elderly home in Kowloon City told the Post that the main pro-establishment party had encouraged residents to register as voters by giving out gifts at the same time.

"Lam Tak-sing of the Hong Kong Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong visited the centre almost every month and gave out presents to the residents, such as fruit, rice packs and moon cakes," a caretaker at the Kam Ma Home of Aged said on condition of anonymity.

"He usually comes in a team of five and asks if we have any newcomers who have not yet enrolled as voters."