Lai Tung-kwok, chairman of the Legislative Council’s panel on constitutional affairs, on Wednesday welcomed the decision, saying that the government had been quick in responding to concerns raised two days earlier.
“The government made a proposal, consulted the Legco and they listened. This is a very good thing. They’re very responsive this time around and the bureau secretary really listened,” Lai said two days after officials briefed lawmakers on the proposal on Monday.
In a reply to the Post on Wednesday, the Constitution and Mainland Affairs Bureau said that the initial intention of “smart ballot boxes” was to help voters check that their ballots were valid to further protect their voting rights.
“After consulting the Legco and the community, the government is willing to heed good advice and has decided to continue to use ballot paper detection machines for voluntary use by voters in the electoral arrangements later on if necessary, instead of promoting the use of smart ballot boxes,” the statement read.
Lai welcomed the revised plan that would allow voters to use optical mark recognition (OMR) machines instead, to voluntarily check their ballot papers.
