Govt mulling introducing smart ballot boxes and expanding vote counting machines

The government is set to review a new bill early next year that proposes the introduction of smart ballot boxes and the expansion of vote counting machines and aims to integrate advanced technology into the electoral process to enhance efficiency and accuracy.

This initiative, presented by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau to the Legislative Council today, points out that the next general election for the Legislative Council is scheduled for 2025.

Before this, a by-election must be held for the Election Committee's subsectors to fill vacant elected positions, whose members will then nominate and vote for candidates in the Legislative Council general election.

The Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendments) Bill is designed to streamline voter registration, voting, and counting procedures by incorporating more information technology and artificial intelligence. One of the key features of the proposed changes includes the introduction of smart ballot boxes that can detect invalid ballots, prompting voters to make necessary corrections, thereby ensuring the validity of each vote and protecting voter rights.

The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) will be responsible for evaluating and deciding on the implementation of these technologies. Their considerations will include not only the technological development and testing but also improvements in efficiency, safety, security, privacy protection, and public perception.

The efficiency of vote counting has been a significant concern, as reflected in the last Election Committee election, where the counting process extended to about 14 hours. Barnabas Fung Wah, the then-chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, apologized for the delays caused by multiple verification needed due to incorrect report data from some ballot boxes.

Currently, election laws permit the use of automatic counting machines in the Legislative Council Election Committee Subsector Elections, but not in functional or geographical constituency elections. The proposed bill seeks to grant the EAC the flexibility to consider using these machines in other relevant elections based on actual circumstances, aiming to simplify the counting process without compromising fairness and transparency.