Public views on LegCo electoral guidelines sought

The Electoral Affairs Commission proposed a set of guidelines laying down rules for electoral arrangements and activities in respect of the Legislative Council general election in September and the Election Committee subsector election in July.

"Broad principles embodied in the guidelines have been widely accepted by the public and various electoral arrangements have been working well over the years. We should not propose big changes to the guidelines," the Commission Chairman, Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing, said at a press conference to launch a public consultation exercise on the proposals.

"We have learned from the recent District Councils election, and we are focusing our attention on fine-tuning practical details with a view to plugging possible loopholes and making improvements. We attempt to improve on our rules so that they can be enforced more effectively," he said.

He noted that the guidelines had incorporated many suggestions from the public and political groups since the first set of guidelines was issued in July 1994, and that regulations made by the Commission must be vetted by the Legislative Council.

Presenting the proposed guidelines, Mr Justice Woo said the chop bearing a "tick" had been well received by electors in the District Councils election last November. It was proved to have been effective in reducing the number of questionable ballots, especially ballot papers void for uncertainty.

"The Commission proposes that a chop bearing a 'tick' be used to mark ballot papers for geographical constituencies (GCs) & 24 functional constituencies (FCs)," he said.

Four special FCs - Heung Yee Kuk, Agriculture and Fisheries, Insurance and Transport - adopt the preferential elimination system of voting. Thus, their electors must use a pen to write Arabic numerals in the circles against the names of candidates in descending order of preference.

For the Election Committee (EC) and EC subsectors, electors must use a pen to shade the ovals against the chosen candidates' names to facilitate the counting of votes by computers.

Mr Justice Woo said combined polling arrangements would again be adopted to enable all electors and authorised representatives of FC corporate electors to attend only one polling station to cast all their votes.

There will be two kinds of polling stations in the general election on September 10:

-About 496 polling stations designated for five GCs - every elector may cast his GC vote at a polling station near his home. He may also cast his FC vote at the same place if he is also an elector or authorised representative of one of the 24 FCs.

-About four polling stations will be set up in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories to serve electors of the EC and the four special FCs. Electors may cast all their votes, including votes in GCs and 24 FCs, at any one of these four polling stations, which have computers linked to voter registers.

Polling arrangements for the EC subsector election will be made more convenient to voters. As many voters will not have to work on the polling day, which is on Sunday, July 9, they will be assigned to one of the 100 polling stations near their home.

Regarding requirements relating to the display of election advertisements, the Commission proposes an amendment to enable Returning Officers to deal with unauthorised electioneering promptly and effectively.

The Commission proposes that before a candidate displays an election advertisement, he must submit a declaration, two samples or photographs of the publicity material and a copy of written consent for display to the Returning Officer. At present a candidate may do it within seven days after the display of the advertisement.

A similar requirement applies to the deposit of a copy of consent of support, which must be obtained before a candidate can indicate in his election advertisements that he has the support of a person or organisation. The proposed guidelines specify that a copy of the consent must be deposited with the Returning Officer before the advertisements are displayed so that the Officer may readily deal with complaints efficiently.

The scope of election advertisement will be defined to cover publicity material containing the name or photograph of a candidate issued during the election period even though the content is not, on the face of it, election-related. Examples are opinion survey questionnaires and posters about group tours, vegetarian feasts, free legal, medical or professional services.

Mr Justice Woo reminded television and radio presenters and regular columnists running in the election to suspend their usual role in a programme or contributing articles from the start of the nomination period up to the conclusion of the election. The proposed guidelines spell out that the requirement applies to such persons who have publicly declared their intention to stand for election, whether or not they have submitted a nomination paper.

He appealed to owners and tenants of private buildings to be fair to all candidates. The proposed guidelines stipulate that if a building has any advertising spaces in its common area to let to candidates, an equal offer must be made to all candidates.

Any views or suggestions should be sent to reach the Commission, 10/F Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, by February 29. Written views may be sent by fax (2511 1682) or e-mail (eacenq@eac.gcn.gov.hk).

The Commission will listen to public views at a public forum to be held at 10 am on Wednesday, February 23 at the Registration and Electoral Office Conference Room, 10/F Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai.

The proposed guidelines are available at all District Offices, the Registration and Electoral Office and the website, www.eac.gov.hk. Enquiries may be made on 2827 1269.

After the consultation exercise ends, the Commission will draw up a regulation governing matters including election advertisements, voting and counting arrangements, and put it to the Legislative Council for negative vetting. It plans to issue the final guidelines in mid-May before nominations open for the subsector election at the end of May.