Data Loss Didn't Affect 2016 Polls: Tsang Yok-sing

Former Legislative Council president Tsang Yok-sing on Sunday urged the authorities to give a detailed account of the loss of a register of voters during the 2016 Legco elections, that wasn’t reported to the authorities until last week.

The register from a polling station in Kwai Tsing district in the New Territories West constituency contained the names, addresses, and identity card numbers of around 8,000 voters from the 2016 election.

The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) only confirmed the register was missing following media reports of the loss.

Tsang on Sunday echoed earlier comments by the Constitutional Affairs Secretary Patrick Nip, that it was unacceptable for the body to fail to disclose the loss for such a long period of time.

“Saying the situation isn’t ideal is putting it too lightly,” Tsang said. “I think it’s hard to believe – not just that the register was lost, but that the loss wasn’t reported, and the responsible party did not deal with the issue for such a long time after the problem arose. This is not acceptable”, Tsang said.

However, he said he doesn’t think the loss was so serious that it affected the outcome of the 2016 poll.