Ex-Hong Kong election chief Wong See-man was told of lost voter register a year before denial, Electoral Affairs Commission finds
- Former boss of Registration and Electoral Office transferred from department after critical watchdog report
- Minister expresses regret over loss of information of 8,000 voters in privacy scandal from Legislative Council elections in 2016
Hong Kong’s former chief electoral officer was told of a missing register containing the personal information of thousands of voters more than a year before he publicly denied knowledge of the incident, a watchdog has found.
Wong See-man, who headed the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) and has been on leave since the end of June, was removed from the department on Wednesday in the wake of the damning report.
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said he felt “regretful and disappointed” about the incident, saying the REO would improve its handling and storage of election materials with a raft of new measures.
The revelation came as the Electoral Affairs Commission released an investigative report on Wednesday over REO’s missing register, which contained the personal details of 8,000 voters used at a polling station in Tsing Yi during the Legislative Council elections in September 2016.
At the time Wong said in public he had not been notified about the missing information.
“It is found to be incorrect as a matter of fact,” the commission report said, after finding that Wong received an ICAC memo and an email from one of his staff about the missing register back in April 2018.
“[Wong] should have exercised much greater prudence and caution in ensuring the factual accuracy of information being given to the public.”
But commission chairman Justice Barnabas Fung Wah did not say whether he believed Wong was deliberately covering up the incident, adding that the investigation was merely to uncover the facts.
The Civil Service Bureau said Wong was now on annual leave and was due to be given a new role.
A CSB spokesman said the bureau could not comment on individual cases but added management would follow up and take appropriate disciplinary action against civil servants involved in misconduct.
Apart from Wong, the commission also had “strong reservations” over the decision taken by an ex-deputy chief electoral officer, which was made at the end of 2017, not to continue searching for the missing register.
“He had not accorded sufficient priority or an appropriate degree of urgency to the matter ... showing a lack of political sensitivity,” Fung said.
However, the report did not draw any conclusion on when and how the marked register was lost, citing “the lapse of time and lack of direct evidence”.
In 2017, REO reported two laptop computers went missing at its backup venue for the chief executive election.
[Wong] should have exercised much greater prudence and caution in ensuring the factual accuracy of information being given to the public
Looking forward, the report said the government should conduct a thorough review of the job requirements of the REO chief and consider creating a more senior post to head the department.
Ideally, REO should consider shortening the opening times at voter centres on polling days, the report said, suggesting the long working hours of staff had increased the chance of making mistakes.
The idea proved controversial in an earlier consultation carried out by the government.
Nip said on Wednesday the change of polling hours was not a priority but the REO would proactively introduce new technology in coming elections, such as the use of IT in the process of handling and storing electoral materials, to make recording and tracking more effective.
