Government officials could be sent knocking door-to-door to promote the December 10 district council elections, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai said.
Tsang said yesterday the visits could be part of promotional activities being considered.
“The scale and creativity of our promotions have been unprecedented, as the government attaches a lot of importance in district work, and we hope citizens will understand the benefits of revamping the district councils,” he said.
He denied that the reduction in the number of directly elected district council seats would hamper the turnout rate.
“I would not think of it like that. In the previous Legislative Council election, the number of directly-elected seats was less than the geographical constituency, but the turnout was still satisfying,” Tsang said, adding he was optimistic about the turnout.
Tsang said only 4,500 citizens have registered to use the two “near-boundary polling stations” the government set up to make it easier for mainland-based Hong Kong voters to cast their ballot, which is only 10 percent of the total quota.
He said the figure did not reflect the actual situation as some Hong Kong citizens may choose to return to the ballot stations of their own constituency to vote.
Tsang also denied the manifestos of some candidates are vague, sparking concerns that they might not improve the government’s district administration after they are elected.
“I would not describe their manifesto as vague, but they are just looking at things from a holistic perspective,” Tsang said. “The geographical constituency is bigger than before. If the candidates are still talking about a certain road or lamppost, I do not think it is the most practical way [to write their manifesto].”
The government also set up a team to monitor information and clarify rumors online to prevent people from smearing the polls, he said.
Meanwhile, a Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups survey found that youths do not have a good understanding of the government’s plan to improve district administration, which it had announced in May.
The 520 surveyed, aged 18 to 34 years old, between late September and early October rated themselves 3.25 out of 10 on average regarding their knowledge of the government’s plan to improve district administration.
“This might imply that the government is not comprehensive enough in their promotion,” the federation said.
The survey also found half of the respondents hoped the district councils could tackle social issues, while 30 percent hoped district councilors could reflect public opinion.
Over half have a sense of belonging in their district, as 55 percent said they are interested in district work, but 80 percent said they are not interested in joining the government’s three district committees or district care teams.
“These are all good statistics as we can see people interested in doing district work, at the same time, we are also aware that [younger people] do not only wish to join district administration but can carry out district work through various means,” said Ray Poon, one of the pollsters.
michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com
The post Door-to-door campaign to boost voter turnout appeared first on Hong Kong News Hub.
from
https://hongkongnewshk.com/door-to-door-campaign-to-boost-voter-turnout/
No comments:
Post a Comment