Hong Kong election body finds ex-opposition sectors cast more than 10 per cent of invalid ballots in Legislative Council poll
- Electoral Affairs Commission recorded more than 30,000 invalid votes from December election
- But pro-Beijing think tank says most opposition supporters appeared to have abstained from voting rather than cast invalid ballots
Professional sectors which used to favour opposition parties accounted for more than 10 per cent of the invalid votes cast in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council election last year according to data from the first poll since Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral system.
According to a report released on Tuesday by the Electoral Affairs Commission, a total of 27,453 invalid votes, including 14,561 which were blank, came from geographical constituencies during the December election.
Meanwhile, an additional 3,261 invalid ballots belonged to the voters from sector-based functional constituencies, made up mostly of special interest groups.
In the education sector, 1,428 voters cast invalid ballots during the election, while in the legal and accountancy constituencies, the figures were 216 and 474, respectively.
The medical and health services functional constituency cast 237 invalid votes, while the social welfare interest group handed in 484 invalid ballots.
Before Beijing’s “patriots-only” overhaul of the electoral system, the five sectors were largely led by opposition lawmakers or legislators who did not identify as pro-establishment.
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In the previous Legco term, the seat for the education sector was held by former lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen, from the now-defunct Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, while then legislator Shiu Ka-chun represented the welfare sector.
The pair resigned after Beijing disqualified Dennis Kwok and Kenneth Leung Kai-cheong, who represented the legal and accounting sectors, respectively, for allegedly calling for foreign sanctions against Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Pierre Chan Pui-yin, who was the representative for the medical constituency, did not seek re-election in 2021.
Many opposition candidates were unable to compete after the overhaul, which introduced a requirement that hopefuls be approved and vetted for national security risks.
Beijing also banned calls for electors to cast invalid votes, despite the act itself remaining legal.
Two people have pleaded guilty under the new election laws that prohibits the act of inciting others to boycott an election.
Despite the measure, the proportion of invalid votes cast in 2021 increased to 1.07 per cent from 0.92 per cent recorded during the 2016 Legco election.
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Meanwhile, the election authority and returning officers reported a total of 1,939 complaints during the 2021 poll, with nearly half being related to political advertisements and 18 per cent involving disturbances to voters caused by canvassing activities.
While some cases are pending investigation, the returning officer found that 735 cases were either partially or fully substantiated, resulting in 524 warning letters.
Political scientist Ma Ngok, who specialises in local politics at Chinese University, said the invalid ballots from the professional sectors could have come from voters coerced by their supervisors into supporting the election.
Lau Siu-kai, from Beijing’s semi-official think tank Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said most opposition supporters had appeared to have abstained from voting.
“It also shows the influence of opposition leaders who have moved overseas is waning,” Lau said, adding their despite calls to cast invalid vote, many supporters had chosen to avoid the risk of legal consequences.
