NDI Youth Program in Hong Kong: Student monitoring of the 2008 Legislative Council Elections in Hong Kong

In a continuation of the election monitoring activities arranged in 2007 by Professor Michael DeGolyer head of the Hong Kong Transition Project (HKTP) at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), in 2008 he arranged for his students to take part in more election monitoring on behalf of the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

Professor Michael DeGolyer of HKTP,
who arranged access for the NDI to students in Hong Kong

NDI 2008 election monitoring activities in Hong Kong

In 2008 the NDI conducted in-depth assessments of the September Legislative Council (LegCo) elections.

To assist in these assessments, they conducted a study with the assistance of the HKTP, who arranged for university student volunteers to shadow six Legislative Council candidates from 31 July through election day on 7 September, to informally observe the campaigns and the polls.

This is how the role of the students was described in NDI Promise of Democratization Report 13¹ on the Legislative Council Elections:

“Appendix II - 2008 Legislative Council Elections Case Studies: Student Observations

NDI would like to thank the Hong Kong Transition Project Director Prof. Michael DeGolyer, Cheung Puiki Research Assistant and the six student volunteers and the individual candidates and their campaign teams for their assistance on this project.

The student volunteers observed the following candidates:

• Tanya Chan, Civic Party, Hong Kong Island;
• Audrey Eu, Civic Party, Hong Kong Island;
• Regina Ip, Independent, Hong Kong Island;
• Alan Leong, Civic Party, Kowloon East;
• Thomas Yu Kwun Wai, Civic Party, Kowloon East;
• Fred Li Wah Ming, Democratic Party, Kowloon East;
• Roy Tam, Independent, Kowloon West. 

NDI, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Transition Project and with the assistance of six student volunteers, conducted an observation of the campaigns of six Legislative Council candidates, focused on qualitative aspects of their campaigns.

The study was conducted to help better understand the role of Hong Kong’s political parties in

supporting candidates during election time, including campaign strategies as well as general campaigning techniques.

Prior to observations, the students were briefed on their role as observers and the need to refrain from participating in any electioneering activities to ensure their neutrality.

The observations took place between 31 July 2008 and 7 September 2008. Students were asked to observe activities of the candidate and their aides, including types of campaign literature distributed, the reaction of passers-by, what other campaigning techniques were employed, and the tactics employed by the opponents.  A de-briefing session was held with interested candidates on September 11, 2008.

One student was only able to complete half of the observations, the rest were conducted by the NDI Hong Kong field staff who were part of the election assessment team”.

Reference

¹The Promise of Democratization in Hong Kong: The 2008 Legislative Council Elections. NDI Hong Kong Report #13. 15 October 2008. See: Promise of Democratization Report 13