Registered voters who are currently undergoing or who may enter a period of mandatory medical observation in quarantine in local hotels will be able to vote in the forthcoming Legislative Assembly elections, the president of the Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL), Tong Hio Fong, confirmed yesterday in a media briefing after a meeting of the commission.
According to Tong, the rules and guidelines for quarantine voting have already been settled and the necessary preparations are currently being made.
Among the most significant rules and procedures outlined in the briefing, Tong noted that until 11:59 p.m. on September 11, registered voters undergoing quarantine must sign a special form allowing the CAEAL to change their polling station to one specially set up in the lobby area of quarantine hotels.
Then, voters will be given a specific time at which they will be allowed to leave their rooms and go down to the lobby area to vote, Tong added, noting that they must wear personal protection equipment, including gloves.
After each voter exercises their right to vote, staff will disinfect the area before the next voter arrives, following the same procedure.
“We have not yet confirmed the number of people that will vote by this method as every day there are new people entering quarantine, so only after September 11, at 11:59 p.m., will we be able to know exactly, and only those will be allowed to vote,” Tong said. “Until now we only know that we have around 400 people [residents] who are in quarantine hotels, but we know that not all of them are registered voters and also probably not all of them will express the wish to change the polling station [where they are registered to vote] to another one so they can vote in quarantine hotel,” Tong added.
Not wanting to elaborate further on the details of the voting procedure, Tong remarked, “next week we will publish all details but I can confirm that all people who [fulfill] the conditions to vote will have the right to vote and we will organize everything to ensure that.”
Voting procedures remain unchanged
For the general population, Tong explained, voting procedures will substantially remain the same as in previous elections. Voters will use a rubber stamp to indicate the list they wish to vote for. The only significant difference will be the requirement to present a green health code before entering the polling station, as is currently required at all public buildings and many private venues.
The CAEAL called on voters to have their daily health code generated early, to ensure that high demand is not placed on the system and that voters do not experience problems with the creation of their code at the last minute.
As on previous occasions, the CAEAL also reminds members of the public not to wear items of clothing or face masks that have clear references to any of the lists running, as this is considered illegal campaigning.
“More than the colors, what is [prohibited] is items that have symbols, or logos or other references that can immediately be identified with one or more lists,” Tong said, adding, “of course if there is a large group of people who are oriented and coordinated to wear a certain color or a certain mask that can also report to a certain group, this can also be considered illegal campaigning,” he said.
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