Election flags fixed to public property were a feature of the 2025 LegCo election

Returning Officers from three constituencies have reported six candidates – four of whom are now lawmakers – to police after a Transit Jam investigation into alleged illegal election flags.

According to letters from Returning Officers, six candidates – DAB’s Chris Ip Ngo-tung, FTU’s Lee Ching-yee and independent Fong Kwok-shan in New Territories South East; independent Yang Wing-kit in Kowloon Central; and NPP’s Dominic Lee Tsz-king and BPA’s Calvin Tang Siu-fung in New Territories Northeast – breached election guidelines with their election flags and have also been referred to police and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department for potential breaches of Section 104A (1) of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance.

All six were experienced politicians and were, at the time of the election campaign, holding office as either District Councillors or incumbent lawmakers.

Four of those candidates, Ip Ngo-tung, Fong Kwok-shan,  Yang Wing-kit and Dominic Lee Tsz-king were since declared winners in their constituencies and were sworn into the Legislative Council today.

As part of an investigation into election cheating, Transit Jam documented and reported at least 44 cases of allegedly illegal flags, submitting photographic and geotagged information to the Election Affairs Commission between early November, when the LegCo 2025 nomination period opened, to the election date.

Of those referred to police, Ip Ngo-tung, Lee Ching-yee and Fong Kwok-shan were found to have breached section 9.24 of the Election Guidelines; Yang Wing-kit was found to have breached 9.22 and 9.40 of the Guidelines; and Dominic Lee Tsz-king and Calvin Tang Siu-fung were found to have breached section 9.22.

In addition, candidate Pong Chiu-fai in Kowloon West was found to have breached section 9.14 and was warned but not referred to police. Kowloon West Returning Officers also found Haywood Guan Weixi to have twice breached section 9.14 but no action was taken against the candidate.

Returning Officers responding to four other complaints – two in Kowloon West and two in Hong Kong Island West – claimed there was no evidence aside from photographic evidence and refused to take up the cases.

Over 30 cases remain outstanding, with no substantive response in the last two months.

The 2025 General Election saw widespread candidate cheating, with residents complaining of illegal flags blocking pavements or roads in every district. At least nine people were arrested for damaging candidate or government election flags, with one arrestee claiming he had just been trying to get the flapping flag out of his face.

Under election rules, candidates are not allowed to affix election flags to public property without permission; to ensure fairness in electioneering, a ballot system was introduced in 1998, giving each candidate a dedicated balloted spot where banners may be legally displayed.

None of the affected candidates or lawmakers have yet responded to questions on the issue.