A court rejects an appeal against a conviction for ‘inciting blank or invalid votes’ in the 2021 legislative election…
[Jacky So] argued the magistrate who handled his case in 2022 had made a mistake by ruling that the provision did not infringe his right to the freedom of expression and to equality.
The ex-student leader was charged in July 2022 for sharing a social media post by self-exiled former lawmaker Ted Hui, calling on voters to cast invalid or blank ballots in the “patriots-only” Legislative Council elections in 2021.
…Government lawyers responded by saying that inciting voters not to vote, as well as to cast invalid or blank votes, [were] all acts “manipulating or damaging the election.” They also said that voting according to one’s preference was one’s personal right, but inciting others to vote “in certain form” should be outlawed.
Yet it is perfectly legal to not vote or to cast blank or invalid ballots. How can someone ‘incite’ a legal act? And urging/‘inciting’ people to turn out to vote (as the government does) or to vote for a particular candidate (as parties do) is OK. Where’s the logic?
Could So also have argued that the government itself ‘incited’ a large number of people not to vote in 2021 by depriving them of pan-dem candidates?
There will be a LegCo election in November. You are free to vote, or not, as you wish. The HKFP report also says…
…The provision regulated behaviour during the election period and thus was not a “total ban of expression at all times,” the judge said.
So people are free to urge a boycott beforehand?
Talking of logical, LMAO that the Kai Tak sports venue have a midnight cut-off for spectators but not for players. So the snooker spectators were kicked out last night before the game ended. A few were quite angry about this. As per RTHK (which carried no mention of the early vomiting of the crowd): “The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Rosanna Law… hoped the ranking tournament will be a huge success and hoped that players and visitors would have an unforgettable experience.” Yes I am sure they won’t forget that!
Is snooker a sport? Isn’t it a game? (Viz golf, chess, darts…) I don’t detect much physical exertion no matter how skilled it may be.
Re: Kai Tak snooker, reportedly, the World Snooker Tour “confirmed that the situation will not continue for the rest of the event”. A ruling a tad late for some:
https://metro.co.uk/2025/03/04/world-grand-prix-fans-forced-leave-mid-match-due-local-curfew-22667643/
These oxygen thief civil servants with their retarded nanny state policies ruin everything. I am glad all of these good for nothing cunts are enjoying a pay freeze. These brain dead morons deserve it for ruining the economy with zero Covid
They should be happy about blank votes, they boost the turnout percentage.
No show is a more potent strategy.
Could not agree more Mark. It was two years ago today that the compulsory and ludicrous face mask rules were finally dropped. I’ll always remember seeing countless Govt licence plate drivers sat alone in their Alphturds in full face mask.
Re the Snooker, it seems that Porkchop Law has thankfully issued a full explanation:
“The snooker match was really exciting and all the players tried their best to win the games, that’s why it took a little bit longer than expected for the second match to start in the evening. Eventually, the match went on till midnight.”
@Boris Badanov
Difficult one. In the defence of snooker and darts being sports I bring in evidence rifle shooting: an olympic sport which is about as static as you can get.
@reductio
Indeed, e-sports look positively energetic compared to one-click rifle shooting.
Rosanna Law on the news tonight: “Obviously the situation is not ideal”. That’s as close as a civil servant gets to saying: “We screwed up bigtime”. Their excuse: they were worried the audience would not get home because it was so late. Well, people can decide for themselves to leave before the end if they need to catch the last bus/train home, or wait longer and get a taxi. That should not be the government’s decision.