Proposed Guidelines for HK's District Council Election Win Support

Home>>China

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Proposed Guidelines for HK's District Council Election Win Support

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Opinions received Monday by the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) in Hong Kong have shown that the proposed guidelines for this year's District Councils election have so far been well supported by the majority of the public.

At an open forum held Monday at the EAC's office to allow citizens to air views on the proposed changes, most of the attending citizens who have spoken have voiced support for the government's proposal for limiting the election's polling time to 12 hours and conducting vote-counting at the various polling stations instead of opting for centralized vote-counting as in theprevious election.

The commission said earlier that it has put forward such initiatives with a view to enhancing efficiency and saving resources in the conduct of District Councils election.

Woo Kwok Hing, chairman of the commission summarized the opinions and briefed the media Monday, saying "As to whether the polling hours will ultimately be the proposed 7:30 am to 7:30 pm on the polling day, the commission is still pending the final decision after receiving all written opinions on the May 27 deadline for public consultation."

Meanwhile, Woo said the final copy of Guidelines on Election-related Activities in respect of the District Councils Elections will adopt a loose-leaf edition so that changes of guidelines to be amended in future elections may be made by replacing the pages concerned while the remaining can be kept for continued reference.He said this is also a way of saving public resources.

A document of the EAC obtained by Xinhua Monday shows that since the start of the public consultation exercise on April 28, the EAC has received a total of 12 representations of opinion fromthe public, nine of which are related to the proposed shortening of the polling hours, seven have expressed support and two have expressed objection.

Six of the written comments have expressed support for the EAC's proposed conducting of on-site vote-counting at the polling stations.

Three written comments were also received expressing support for the EAC's proposed requirements that the candidates' publicitymaterials be submitted to the EAC and that no loudspeakers or publicity-related activities be allowed in the vicinity of the polling stations.

Questions?Comments? Click here

HK to Hold Open Forum on Proposed Guidelines for DC Elections

Chinese Crack Down on Public Spitting ( 2 Messages)

United States Afraid of its Own Shadow: Mahathir ( 8 Messages)

Int'l Community Aids China's SARS-control ( 6 Messages)

BBC Leader Criticizes US Coverage of War against Iraq ( 17 Messages)

US Interference in China's Internal Affairs Doomed to Failure: FM Spokeswoman ( 7 Messages)