One Last Free Vote Threatened

Pan-democrats are urging people to vote in the primaries

This weekend, the pan-democrats are holding their own primaries, an election prelude to see which candidates among them are the strongest ones to run in September's Legislative Council elections.

It is also possibly the last free vote Hong Kong residents have, with the new national security law making it harder for opposition candidates to run, or there is the chance that Beijing may cancel the elections altogether.

Having primaries will also prevent splitting the vote among pan-democratic candidates in the hopes of securing a larger number of seats in Legco, called "the 35+plan".

PORI was raided by police this evening

However, the government is already throwing a number of obstacles in the way already, the latest is the police storming the offices of the independent pollster Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute this evening around 8pm with a warrant.

The police said there were complaints that people's personal details, including police officers were leaked, and suspect the organization's computers were hacked.

Democratic lawmakers are saying HKPORI was raided because it helped design the voting system for the primaries.

At the time of the raid, the police were trying to take all of the computers, according to Leung Kai-chi, an honorary director of HKPORI.

The independent pollster is run by Robert Chung Ting-yiu who used to run a polling operation at the University of Hong Kong, but left after he was under fire by pro-Beijing critics, who claimed his polling was inaccurate.

Interestingly today, the latest poll asked respondents: "Is Hong Kong still a free city?" Sixty-one percent said no, 32 percent said yes.

Benny Tai is hoping 35 pan dems win seats

In addition today, Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Secretary Erick Tsang Kwok-wai warned the primaries risked breaching the national security law, while the Home Affairs Bureau reiterated that district councillors who planned to use their offices as polling stations would not get any relevant expenditure reimbursed.

And the Housing Authority said it will take action against tenants who violate their tenancy agreements.

While anyone who is a registered voter can take part in these primaries, as long as they show their HKID card and a bill that has their address. But with the government cracking down hard, will the police be waiting at these "polling stations" ready to pounce, arresting residents for taking part in illegal elections?

But pan-democrats are encouraging people to be strong and make their voices heard. It may be the last time they are freely expressed.