Ban on advocating blank votes will lead to ambiguities and chilling effect, says scholar
A senior political scholar has called for the Hong Kong government to scrap a proposed legislative amendment criminalizing those who urge others to cast blank or invalid votes during an election, saying that it would create a lot of gray areas in the future.
Ivan Choy, a senior lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s department of government and public administration, told Apple Daily that he had never heard of other countries or territories banning the advocacy of blank votes.
He said this “extremely disturbing” amendment should be shelved, because Hong Kong voters had always decided for themselves whether or not to cast votes, and it was hard for them to be swayed by others.
The legislation criminalizes “inciting” voters to cast blank ballots, but Choy said that the government had yet to fully explain the specific definition of incitement, which could lead to a lot of gray areas in future elections. He added that in the past year or two, the threshold for getting arrested had broadened and cited the case of the 47 pro-democracy activists accused of conspiracy to subvert state power.
This amendment would therefore cause more Hong Kong people to worry about the possibility of being imprisoned for their words during the election period, Choy said.
The government’s failure to clearly explain the definition of incitement after repeated questioning by the media will create a chilling effect on society, he said.
Many of the government’s recent initiatives had produced the opposite effect of what was intended, he added, pointing to the COVID-19 contact-tracing app, LeaveHomeSafe, as an example. Instead of using the app, a lot of citizens prefer to leave their contact details on paper when entering public places, Choy said.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that the government would not regulate voters’ choices to cast blank or invalid ballots on election day. However, authorities would act according to the law to prohibit any manipulation or sabotage of elections, Lam added.
Click
here for Chinese version
---------------------------------
Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app:
bit.ly/2yMMfQETo download the latest version,
Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play