A total of 79 voters have been found registered to four buildings left derelict by property developers in the Sai Wan constituency, amid a series of incidents involving voter registration fraud.
It was found that 46 voters were registered to Po Fat Building on 34 Belcher’s Street in Kennedy Town, which was reportedly empty save for an office on the first floor. Another 33 voters were registered to three buildings on Catchick Street in the same neighbourhood, which were also vacant.
This was not the first time that the eligibility of voters registered to empty buildings in Sai Wan was put to question, Apple Daily reported.
At the election, where Chong Wing-fai of the Democratic Party lost to pro-Beijing party DAB’s Chueng Kwok-kwan by 24 votes in the Sai Wan constituency, voters were found registered to Po Fat Building, which had already been vacated.
The election took place four years ago. Chong lodged an unsuccessful election petition to the court, which ruled that there was no requirement that voters change their address after they moved.
The building is currently reportedly under Sun Hung Kai Properties, according to the newspaper.
“It’s possible that there’s vote-rigging involved. I’ve complained to the Registration and Electoral Office but they haven’t followed up at all. How could we ensure the fairness of elections? Chong told the newspaper.
Previously, a lamp post was registered as a voter address, reported Apple Daily. The address was accepted by the Registration and Electoral Office after it found that a homeless person was living there.
Earlier this week, a voter was found to be registered in an address on the 27th floor of a residential building which only has 19 floors.
Other incidents include the registration of a five-star hotel as the address of three voters and the changing of a voter’s address by an unknown individual using a forged signature.
