Electoral Commission accused of ‘political screening’ and double standards in approval process for leaflets by Legco candidates
Pro-democracy candidates have accused the election watchdog of applying inconsistent standards on promotional material in the lead up to the Legislative Council election
Questions have surfaced over how the Electoral Affairs Commission is vetting promotional leaflets for the upcoming Legislative Council election with a number of pro-democracy candidates alleging that different standards have been applied to the process.
While two pro-democracy candidates are still awaiting the election watchdog’s approval of their leaflets, which contain words such as “self-determination”, Democracy Groundwork’s Lau Siu-lai said her leaflets had already received approval despite containing similar phrases.
Lau said her leaflets had been approved by the commission last Thursday, just days after they were submitted.
The pro-democracy activist said her material contained phrases such as “self-determination” and “democratically amend the Basic Law”.
The damage they have done to the fairness of the election could be irreparable.
“It’s really strange that I got the approval,” she said. “It’s very clear from this that [the commission] is engaging in political screening and that they are picking on certain candidates.”