The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Raymond Tam, today (October 4) visited the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) to update himself on the arrangements for the 2016 Election Committee Subsector Elections to be held on December 11.
 
     Mr Tam was pleased to learn that the REO had put in place comprehensive and stringent measures to ensure that the elections would be conducted openly, fairly and honestly in accordance with the Basic Law and the relevant electoral legislation.
 
     During the visit, Mr Tam was given a detailed briefing on various aspects of the elections, including the ballot papers to be used, the vote-counting procedures at Central Counting Station and the consolidation of election results.
 
     A dedicated demonstration was conducted to show the counting workflow, including the receipt and handling of ballot boxes, the opening of ballot boxes and sorting of ballot papers, the counting of votes by the Optical Mark Recognition and Manual Key Entry workstations and the consolidation of election results by the Voting Validation and Counting Automation System (VVCAS).
 
     "I am glad to know that the REO will commission three independent quality assurance services for the VVCAS to ensure the integrity and reliability of the system," Mr Tam said.
 
     "The Office will also organise briefing sessions and tailor-made courses on management and statistical work for the polling and counting staff so that they will get familiarised with the work procedures for the day," he added.
 
     Mr Tam noted that the REO will exercise extra caution in its preparation for the elections by conducting comprehensive checks on the ballot papers, thorough tests on the capacity of ballot boxes and so on. He paid tribute to the efforts of colleagues, adding that such precaution was important to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections.

Ends/Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Issued at HKT 18:45

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