A five-week voter registration campaign under the 2016 exercise for nomination of arts interest representatives for the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) (the 2016 Nomination Exercise) is launched today (August 12) and will close on September 15, 2016.

     The first phase of the Nomination Exercise - registration by arts organisations and individual arts workers - ended on May 27. Among the applications received in the first phase, 674 arts organisations and 2,254 individual arts workers are eligible to participate in the 2016 Nomination Exercise. A full list of the specified organisations and individuals was published in the Gazette today.

     The second phase of the 2016 Nomination Exercise is launched today. A Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) spokesman said, "We call upon the arts organisations specified in the Gazette (the eligible arts organisations) to take immediate action in registering their members/employees as voters. The registered voters may take part in the subsequent phases of the 2016 Nomination Exercise including nomination of candidates, electioneering and polling."

     The eligible arts organisations may register their members/employees who fulfil one of the following criteria as voters:

(i) be a member who has joined the organisation for not less than one year prior to March 29, 2016; or

(ii) be an employee of the organisation and directly involved in arts creation, direction or performance in the organisation for not less than one year prior to March 29, 2016; or

(iii) be a full-time employee in the organisation and responsible for co-ordination or promotion of arts events or stage management (not including employees involved in general administration, finance, human resources and other technical support duties) in the organisation for not less than one year prior to March 29, 2016.

     The eligible arts organisations should submit the Voter Registration Form for their members/employees and return it to the Nomination Agent by September 15, 2016. The Guidelines for Voter Registration and Voter Registration Form can be downloaded from the website www.voteforhkadc2016.hk. Arts organisations that had submitted voter registration forms in the Nomination Exercise in 2013 or in a previous Nomination Exercises must submit voter registration forms for their members/employees afresh this year.

     Instinctif Partners (Hong Kong) Limited has been commissioned by the HAB as the Nomination Agent for the 2016 Nomination Exercise. Eligible arts organisations will soon receive letters from the Nomination Agent containing guidelines and application forms for voter registration and candidate nomination.

     Individual arts workers published in the Gazette will automatically become voters and further registration is not required. They will receive letters containing guidelines and application forms for candidate nomination.

     Those who have not received these letters by August 19 should contact the Nomination Agent, Ms Phoebe Sou at 2868 0549 or Ms Sandy Cheung at 2868 0544, or email: hkadc@instinctif.com. They can also download the relevant guidelines and forms from the Nomination Exercise’s website: www.voteforhkadc2016.hk.

     The HKADC is a statutory body set up to promote the development of the arts in Hong Kong. The Chief Executive may appoint up to 10 persons nominated by the specified arts interests. The 10 specified arts interests are Arts Administration, Arts Criticism, Arts Education, Chinese Opera (Xiqu), Dance, Drama, Film Arts, Literary Arts, Music and Visual Arts. The current term of office of the HKADC members will expire on December 31, 2016. An exercise is being conducted to nominate arts interests representatives for the Chief Executive's consideration for appointment as members of the HKADC for the next term.

     The 2016 Nomination Exercise will be conducted in the following four phases:

Phase 1: Registration by arts organisations and individual arts workers (March 29 to May 27, 2016)
 
Phase 2: Voter registration by arts organisations (August 12 to September 15, 2016)
 
Phase 3: Candidate nomination (October 2016) (tentative)

Phase 4: Electioneering and polling (October to November, 2016) (tentative)

Ends/Friday, August 12, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:00

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