'No Excuse To Drag Feet Over Electronic Voting'

Hong Kong's sole delegate to the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), Tam Yiu-chung, said there is no excuse for the government to drag its feet on studying electronic voting for the coming year.

Speaking to an RTHK radio programme, Tam said that with advances in technology, it seems "old fashioned" for voters to bring their ID cards to a physical polling station and vote on paper, and that this approach could be vulnerable to loopholes.

The pro-Beijing heavyweight called on the government to resolve issues such as allowing voters across the border to vote and electronic voting, and that preparations are ready ahead of the Legco elections.

Tam's comments come after the government announced that the Legco elections, which were slated to take place on September 6, were pushed back by a year, with authorities citing the Covid-19 situation in the SAR.

He also said he expects the NPCSC to lay down clear guidelines on how to deal with the one-year vacuum at Legco that will be easy to follow to avoid confusion.

The committee is scheduled to meet for four days from Saturday.