Amendment regulations on voting procedure to be gazetted
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Five amendment regulations to amend the subsidiary legislation under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance (Cap. 541), which set out the types of documents that an elector must produce before being issued a ballot paper, will be gazetted this Friday (June 23).
"At present, the Presiding Officer (PRO) must not give a ballot paper to a person unless the PRO is satisfied, after inspection of the person's identity document or 'any other document showing that person's name and photograph', that he or she is the person registered in the Final Register as claimed. The amendments serve to implement the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC)'s recommendation in its report on the 2016 Legislative Council General Election that an elector must produce the original of his or her Hong Kong permanent identity card (HKID) before a ballot paper can be issued to him or her, and to provide for alternative measures in case such an original cannot be produced and arrangements for dedicated polling stations situated in prisons," a spokesman for the EAC said.
"The amendments eliminate the possibility of different practices among different PROs as to what 'any other document showing that person's name and photograph' is considered acceptable. The amendments also aim to address public concern on the possibility of persons using counterfeit documents or impersonating electors to apply for ballot papers," he said.
"To preserve the voting right of a registered elector, alternative measures, including the presentation of the original of the person's valid Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport to the PRO, are in place in the amendments to cater for realistic situations where an elector has genuine and justifiable difficulty in producing the original of his or her HKID, for example, the loss of his or her HKID on or some days before the polling day," the spokesman added.
The five amended regulations comprise the EAC (Electoral Procedure) (Legislative Council) Regulation (Cap. 541D), the EAC (Electoral Procedure) (District Councils) Regulation (Cap. 541F), the EAC (Electoral Procedure) (Election Committee) Regulation (Cap. 541I), the Electoral Procedure (Chief Executive Election) Regulation (Cap. 541J) and the Electoral Procedure (Rural Representative Election) Regulation (Cap. 541L).
The amendment regulations will be tabled in the Legislative Council on June 28 for negative vetting. Subject to negative vetting by the Legislative Council, they will come into operation on December 1, 2017.
Ends/Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Issued at HKT 17:00
Issued at HKT 17:00
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