No public consultation exercise for Hong Kong proposal to allow voting in mainland China, sources say

Proposal will go directly to Legislative Council ‘to give officials time to prepare for polls next year’

Government expected to unveil proposals before Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s policy address

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Officials are to press ahead with a plan to allow voting across the border. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00pm, 25 Oct 2020Updated: 11:15pm, 25 Oct 2020

Hong Kong authorities plan to do away with public consultation and unveil proposals to expand voting for Hongkongers on mainland China before the city’s leader delivers her annual policy address, the Post has learned.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that top officials have ruled out postal voting and are inclined to set up only “a handful” of polling stations in major mainland cities, including Guangdong municipalities under the Greater Bay Area, to ensure there will be adequate electoral staff from Hong Kong present to avoid potential electoral fraud.

They said the government was keen to put the changes in place so election officials would have sufficient time to prepare for polling across the border in the postponed Legislative Council elections expected next September.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had previously been expected to reveal details of the plan in her policy address sometime before the end of next month.

Tam Yiu Chung hopes the number of places where people can vote will be increased. Photo: AP

Members of the opposition bloc and academics warned that if the government amended the electoral laws without engaging the public, it risked political turmoil of the sort triggered by last year’s unpopular extradition bill.

Early last year, Lam shrugged off calls for a full public consultation exercise on the bill, which would have allowed fugitives to be sent to mainland China and other jurisdictions with which Hong Kong had no exchange arrangement. Members of the public had only three weeks to send in their views.