Ratio of Hong Kong voters who cast blank, invalid votes reaches record high

Just as Hong Kong saw a record low turnout rate of 30.2 percent for the patriots-only new Legislative Council election on Sunday, the election has broken another record -- the highest ratio of blank and invalid votes involving some 27,000 ballots.  

Over 1.35 million people cast their ballots yesterday, including around 17,500 who voted at the three border polling stations.  

By comparing the total number of votes cast with the number of votes won by the candidates, it was estimated that the number of invalid votes is approximately 27,000, which amounted to around 2 percent of the total votes.

Of the invalid votes, some were void as they were marked improperly. Among those displayed during the vote-checking process was one ballot that carried a big cross, and another marked with a middle finger shape using the voting chop.  

Over the past Legco elections, the rate of blank and invalid votes was around 1 percent. The 2016 Legco election saw 33,872 blanks or invalid ballots, 1.52 percent of the total votes.    

Invalid votes aside, statistics show a plunge in the number of votes going to candidates from the pro-democracy camp. They managed to get only 90,000 votes in the Sunday election  -- almost a million fewer than the 1.1 million in the 2016 election. 

In contrast, the pro-establishment camp secured 1.23 million votes in geographical constituencies this time, 370,000 more than 2016.

Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong's sole member of the National People's Congress, said voting rate is lower than usual as society is stable. When there is a lot of confrontation and dissatisfaction for the government, more people would vote.

He said some candidates in geographical constituencies secured almost 100,000 votes, an indication that voters have expectations of lawmakers.

Under the law, it is illegal to incite the public to cast blank votes or not to vote. But it is legal for an individual to cast invalid ballots or skip voting.

Independent Commission Against Corruption has so far arrested 10 people since October 30 for inciting another person not to vote or to cast an invalid vote during the election period.  

On Saturday, magistrates issued warrants for the arrest of five people - including self-exiled activists Sunny Cheung Kwan-yang and Nathan Law Kwun-chung - wanted by the ICAC for allegedly engaging in illegal conduct to incite another person not to vote or to cast an invalid vote by activity in public during the election period.  

Earlier in November, warrants were issued for former lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung and former Sha Tin district councillor Yau Man-chun for inciting blank votes. 

“In my opinion, mobilizing people to cast blank votes is the only practical resistance which Hongkongers can do,” Hui wrote in one post, saying members of the public face limited options in expressing their political opinions.