electoral_reform

The Quest for Electoral Reform in Macau

In February 2008, the Macau government published a consultative document entitled “Diligently Improving Electoral Quality, Stably Promoting Democratic Development.” The document aimed at consulting public opinion on the content and direction of electoral reform in Macau. This article examines the content of the consultative document and assesses its merits and weaknesses.
The consultative document is organized into four chapters, covering the issues of voters registration, groups registration, electoral fairness, and proposed reforms as well as technical changes. Chapter One focuses on the question of voters registration. Interestingly, even after Macau’s return to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), two key terms used in this document retain the Portuguese usage before December 1999: “natural” voters and “legal” voters. Outsiders unfamiliar with Macao politics can be easily confused by these two key terms. Actually, “natural” voters refer to the individual voters, whereas “legal person voters” refer to the organizations and groups registering in the elections. While the need to maintain continuity in the usage of electoral terms is understandable, the consultative document could have explained the two terms by using footnotes. Unfortunately, it did not do so and took it for granted that ordinary citizens who read the document must understand the background and meaning of the two key terms.
Chapter One proposes a number of electoral reforms pertinent to individual voters registration. First, the age of those citizens who can register to vote can be lowered from 18 to 17 so that those who [...]