The 2023 District Council Ordinary Election will be held on December 10 this year. The nomination period will run from October 17 to 30. Nomination forms will be distributed at the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) and District Offices (DOs) from today (September 28) onwards.

     A total of 264 members, 88 from the 44 District Council geographical constituencies (DCGCs) and 176 from the 18 District Committees constituencies (DCCs), will be returned in this District Council Ordinary Election.

     The Government spokesman said, "The reform of the District Councils (DCs) system is an important part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)'s efforts to improve the district governance system, enhance the capacity of district governance and strengthen the efficacy of district governance, as well as a major initiative of the HKSAR to fully implement the principle of 'patriots administering Hong Kong', which is of great significance to the good governance and the long-term stability of the HKSAR. Therefore, the Government encourages individuals with talents and aspirations who are patriotic and have an affection for Hong Kong to actively participate in the election, and appeals to voters for casting their votes on the polling day, so as to elect the new term of aspiring and capable DC members for providing services to the Government, the community and citizens. The seventh-term DCs will strictly adhere to the Basic Law to carry out advisory and services functions, duly contribute to the Government's district governance work, proactively respond to the expectations of the public, and assist the Government in resolving people's livelihood problems in a practical manner."

     The spokesman supplemented, "A nominee of the DCGC election or DCC election must be a registered geographical constituency elector aged 21 or above. They must also have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the three years immediately preceding the date of the nomination. Details of the eligibility to be nominated as a candidate, disqualification from being nominated as a candidate and from being elected as a member, and the requirements to be complied with by persons nominated as candidates are set out in sections 20, 21 and 34 respectively of the District Councils Ordinance (Cap. 547)."

     Each nominee who wishes to stand for the DCC election must be subscribed by at least three but not more than six electors from each of the three District Committees (i.e. the Area Committees, the District Fight Crime Committees and the District Fire Safety Committees) in the relevant District. Each DCC elector may nominate a number of candidates not more than the number of members to be returned for the respective DCC at the election in the District. A candidate for the DCC election needs not be a member of the District Committees.

     For the DCGC election, each nominee who wishes to stand for the election must be subscribed by at least 50 but not more than 100 registered electors for the DCGC concerned and also be subscribed by at least three but not more than six electors of each of the three District Committees in the relevant District. A DCGC elector may nominate only one candidate in his/her own DCGC. If a DCGC elector is also a DCC elector, they can also nominate one candidate in each DCGC in the relevant District as a DCC elector.

     The Electoral Affairs Commission has appointed the 18 District Officers as Returning Officers for the 44 DCGCs and 18 DCCs in the election. They will handle the nomination forms and other electoral matters. Notices for the election and the appointment of Returning Officers, with their office addresses, were gazetted today and uploaded to the REO website (www.reo.gov.hk) and election website (www.elections.gov.hk).

     "Nominees are advised to submit their nominations as early as possible to allow time to correct mistakes, if any, in the nomination forms before the deadline," the spokesman remarked.

     Nomination forms are available at the District Offices, and the offices of the REO (8/F, Treasury Building, 3 Tonkin Street West, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon or Unit 2301-03, 23/F, Millennium City 6, 392 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon). They can also be downloaded from the above-mentioned websites.

     Completed nomination forms and the election deposit must be submitted by the nominees in person to the Returning Officers of the respective constituencies within the nomination period (the submission time falls between 9am and 5pm from Mondays to Fridays and between 9am and noon on Saturdays). A deposit of $3,000 needs to be paid by each nominee for the DCGC and DCC elections. Nominees are also recommended to pay the election deposit by cash or cashier's order to avoid any complications arising from a cheque not being honoured.

     Separately, pursuant to section 16 of the Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (District Councils) Regulation (Cap. 541F), in deciding whether a candidate is validly nominated for a constituency, the District Council Eligibility Review Committee (DCERC) may require the candidate to furnish any other information in relation to the validity of the nomination that the DCERC considers appropriate, so as to enable the DCERC to be satisfied that the candidate is eligible to be nominated as a candidate for the constituency concerned.

     Each candidate must complete and return the "District Council Election Candidate Eligibility Review Supplementary Information Form". The Supplementary Information Forms are distributed together with the nomination forms and can be downloaded from the REO and election websites. Candidates should put the completed Supplementary Information Form in a separate and sealed envelope and hand it in person together with the nomination form to the office of the Returning Officer during the nomination period for onward transmission of the Supplementary Information Form to the DCERC Secretariat. Candidates can also choose to submit the completed Supplementary Information Form directly to the DCERC Secretariat as soon as possible but no later than 5pm on October 30 through any of the following means: 

1. email to dcerc_secretariat@dcerc.gov.hk;
2. fax to 2505 0673; or
3. return to the drop-in box of the DCERC Secretariat at the entrance on 2/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong.

     Copies of the nomination forms for the relevant DCGC or DCC election are available for public inspection at the office of the respective Returning Officer during ordinary business hours after the start of the nomination period.

     For enquiries, please call the election hotline at 2891 1001.

Ends/Thursday, September 28, 2023
Issued at HKT 19:15

NNNN