A Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions district councillor has discovered that her address was changed on the voter register without her knowledge. The incident is among numerous voter address controversies in the lead-up to the District Council election.
Lau Kwai-yung changed her voter address to Belvedere Garden in Tsuen Wan in early 2015 after moving. However, she found that her address on the register was changed back to Tin Heng Estate in Tin Shui Wai—her residence before moving to Tsuen Wan—by an anonymous individual in April. She discovered the change in late August, reported The Sun.
Lau is a district councillor for the Fu Yan constituency in Tin Shui Wai. Tin Heng Estate is under another constituency in the same district, where another member of her party is the current district councillor. She told the newspaper that she was worried that the change was planted to make people suspect it to be an act of vote-rigging. She has asked the Registration and Electoral Office to change the address to her current one in Tsuen Wan.
In August, a voter’s residential address was changed to his office address by an unknown individual using a forged signature, meaning he became a registered voter in another district.
Cases of suspected fraud where voter addresses were deemed suspicious include voters registered to dismantled buildings, non-existent floors and a five-star hotel. The growing number of dubious registrations has raised concerns that the “voters” may have been planted to manipulate election results.
