The Commissariat against Corruption (CCAC) concluded the investigation into a case of electoral corruption in Macau, which involves the representative of a candidate list for the 2021 parliamentary elections.
“The representative of a candidacy commission involved is suspected of offering a tour, meals and free gifts to more than 200 residents of Macau to collect enough signatures from voters, with a view to submitting the request for recognition of the list”, reads in a statement from the CCAC.
The Commissioner found that the “manager and a tour guide were responsible for organizing a half-day tour, providing meals and distributing gifts such as liquid laundry detergent and umbrellas with the words: ‘vote for this list of candidates’ printed on them”, he adds.
The activities and gifts were, according to the CCAC, funded by the representative, who will have “managed to attract more than 200 voters to fill in their personal identification data and sign the respective bulletins for proposing the list”.
During the CCAC investigation, several people admitted that, “through mobile phone applications or information transmitted by word of mouth”, they learned that “it was enough to sign the newsletters in order to have access to a tourist tour and free meals”.
In the statement, the organization writes that the representative, the tour guide and the two hundred voters have committed the crime of electoral corruption, provided for by the electoral law for the Legislative Assembly of Macau, and the case has been forwarded to the Public Ministry.
This crime is punishable with a prison sentence of up to eight years, and the execution cannot be suspended or replaced by a fine or other penalties, concludes the statement.
