The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
 
     The Village Representative (VR) Election of the 2023 Rural Ordinary Election (ROE) was held today (January 8). The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), Mr Justice David Lok, visited polling stations, the ballot paper sorting station and a counting station in various districts to observe the operation of polling and counting on the polling day.
 
     Mr Justice David Lok said, “EAC members Mr Arthur Luk, SC, and Professor Daniel Shek and I separately visited polling stations earlier today. We also jointly visited the ballot paper sorting station at Hin Keng Neighbourhood Community Centre, Sha Tin. The arrangements are generally in good order.
 
     “After the close of poll, ordinary polling stations will be converted into counting stations right away for counting of votes in the same venue. This is a new arrangement in the VR Election to reduce transportation time and enhance efficiency of counting,” he added.
 
     The polling hours of the VR Election ended at 7pm. Mr Justice Lok, Mr Arthur Luk, SC, Professor Daniel Shek, and the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, then inspected the counting station at S.T.F.A. Leung Kit Wah Primary School, Tseung Kwan O. The counting process went smoothly and all the electoral arrangements were conducted in an open, fair and honest manner.
 
     A total of 182 ordinary polling stations were set up for the VR (including Indigenous Inhabitant Representative (IIR) and Resident Representative (ReR)) Election. Around 37 300 registered electors of 119 villages will elect 185 IIRs in the IIR Election and around 21 200 registered electors of 101 villages will elect 101 ReRs.
 
     Polls for the 2023 ROE take place on two consecutive Sundays. In addition to the VR Election held today, the Kaifong Representative (KFR) Election will be held next Sunday (January 15), through which KFRs of the Cheung Chau market town will be elected.

The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:

 

     The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, together with the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, EAC members Mr Arthur Luk, SC, and Professor Daniel Shek, and the Returning Officer, Mr Justice Keith Yeung Kar-hung, today (May 4) visited the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) to inspect the training with practical sessions and simulated activities for the staff members at the main polling station and central counting station of the 2022 Chief Executive (CE) Election. They thanked colleagues for their efforts made, and encouraged them to make their best endeavours to ensure that the poll and vote counting this Sunday (May 8) will be carried out smoothly.

 

     Mr Justice Fung said that most of the preparatory work for the 2022 CE Election is nearing completion, and staff members would continue their work to ensure that the election will be conducted smoothly and efficiently. He also appealed to the Election Committee (EC) members to vote on the polling day.

 

     He said, “The 2022 CE Election, which will be held this Sunday, is the first CE Election after the Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendments) Ordinance 2021 came into effect. The next term of CE shall be elected by nearly 1 500 EC members by secret ballot on a one-person, one-vote basis. The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) will set up the main polling station and central counting station cum media centre at the HKCEC. In addition, there will be a polling station at the Penny’s Bay Community Isolation Facility and a dedicated polling station at Happy Valley Police Station.

 

     On the polling day, staff from various departments will discharge electoral duties at different posts. The EAC encouraged all electoral staff to step up training to familiarise themselves with details of the procedures and arrangements.

 

     The Electronic Poll Register (EPR) system will be used for issuing ballot papers at the main polling station in the election for more flexible, efficient and accurate issuance of ballot papers. An EC member needs to present the original of his/her Hong Kong permanent identity card and temporarily pull his/her mask aside as instructed at the ballot paper issuing desk. The staff will scan the EC member’s identity card with an EPR tablet to verify his/her identity, and then issue the ballot paper. After the close of the poll, all ballot boxes will be delivered to the central counting station for counting by staff manually.

 

     The REO held numerous training sessions to brief polling and counting staff on the polling and counting procedures. The staff could familiarise themselves with the workflow and response in the event of contingencies through practice sessions with simulated scenarios. The training sessions covered every procedure, including the set-up of polling and counting stations and their preparatory work, contingency measures for the EPR system, steps immediately after the close of the poll, delivery of ballot boxes, points to note about sorting and counting of votes so as to ensure accuracy while enhancing efficiency, co-ordination and responsiveness, and make thorough preparations for the CE Election.

 

     The EAC will closely monitor the conduct of the election on the polling day, ensuring that the election is conducted in an open, just and honest manner.