Poll position:
Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam briefs the media on the 2012 Legislative Council Election at a mock polling station in Happy Valley.
Poll position:
Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam briefs the media on the 2012 Legislative Council Election at a mock polling station in Happy Valley.
Public knows new voting plan: Raymond Tam
September 06, 2012
The public now better understands the 'one-person-two-votes' system to be used in the upcoming Legislative Council Election, according to opinion polls.
This was the message from Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam today, urging electors to cast their votes in the September 9 election.
Under the system, electors get one vote in both the Geographical and Functional Constituencies.
Speaking to the media after a visit to a mock polling station in Happy Valley, Mr Tam said surveys conducted by the Central Policy Unit and the University of Hong Kong found electors have a better understanding of the system, adding the Government’s internal investigations indicate that 90% of electors know they have two votes.
Mr Tam said his estimation that more blank ballots or invalid votes may be submitted in the District Council (second) Functional Constituency this time, has no relation to the public’s understanding of one-person-two-votes.
He said it was mainly due to certain candidates' call to boycott voting in the constituency, or that electors do not have a favourite candidate. He urged electors to exercise their right and cast two votes.
Mr Tam said the Government has taken various measures to prevent vote-rigging, including updating the elector registry and stepping up random checks, adding recent court sentences have achieved a deterrent effect on election offences.
Accuracy on elector information has been greatly improved following a registry update, he said, adding that 210,000 electors, who are not eligible to vote, have been taken off the register.
