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ID card checks not thorough

South China Morning Post

CLEAR THE AIR SAYS: IF TAINTED PEOPLE ARE VOTED IN BY RIGGED VOTES THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUR AIR QUALITY STAND NO CHANCE OF IMPROVEMENT WHEN THOSE VESTED INTERESTS ARE CONTROLLED BY THEIR DEVIOUS FINANCING PUPPETEERS.

SCMP Dec 14, 2011

ID card checks not thorough

Jeremy Newton’s letter about somebody having used his vote during the district council elections (“Someone else voted in my place”, December 9) just confirms my own observations over many years that many officials charged with checking a person’s identity fall down on the job.

This applies equally in government offices or those of lawyers, clinics or banks.

The frontline staff are beholden only to the number on the identity card and nothing else. So long as they get that ID number written down, they feel they have no responsibility to actually look at the photograph on a card and compare it with the person presenting the card as well as double-checking their name.

Herein lies the problem because, with an eight- or nine-digit card number, it is fairly common for people to make  mistakes with the recording of numbers.

If they combined this task with asking the person to state his or her name clearly, and also comparing the photographs, there would be far fewer identification mistakes. Failing to check the photograph in fact defeats the whole object of having an identity card, but tell that to the office managers and all you get is a blank stare.

The only times I have actually witnessed officers comparing the photographs on ID cards are at Immigration Department entry and departure points.

P. A. Crush, Sha Tin

How to crack down on vote-rigging

The fiasco of the district council elections continues to grow as further cases of alleged vote- rigging appear with phoney  voters registered at demolished buildings being bussed to voting centres, no doubt in return for free rice or other rewards.

It appears the investigations are just scratching the surface. The milk is tainted and the government should reject all election results and start afresh.

There is a solution. When Hong Kong residents arrive at or depart from immigration, they insert their smart identity cards into a reader unit, the gate opens and then a thumb print opens the second gate.

The same system could be adapted for use at central voting centres.

Any non-registered voter would be spotted immediately by the computer/ID cross reference and a voting slip issued if the registered ID card passes muster. A closed-circuit television with on-screen timer can identify the voter using the ID card for cross reference. Hong Kong has the taxpayers’ abundant money to do this and ensure a fair vote takes place.

At the very minimum, the voter’s ID card should be scanned and the hand scanners used by the Immigration Department employed before anyone gets a voter slip.

All first-world countries have legislation on the publishing of political party funding donations so that the public can see who and from where the puppeteers are controlling our political parties’ policies. Hong Kong should have similar laws.

James Middleton, Pat Heung

http://www.scmp.com/files/SCMP/Opinion/Static%20Files/SCM_News_SCMP_16MAR09_NS_ECHANNEL2__WCK.1.jpg

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