The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
The brand new Electoral Information Centre (EIC) of the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) today (October 24) officially came into operation at the new site located at the Treasury Building, Cheung Sha Wan, and the Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), Mr Justice David Lok, hosted the first guided tour and jointly participated in various activities with a group of senior primary students visiting the new EIC.
Mr Justice Lok said the brand new EIC is equipped with different display modes and rich contents to introduce Hong Kong's electoral affairs, providing the public with one-stop updated information and experience related to electoral affairs. The new EIC further introduces interactive elements of information technology to enhance visitors' understanding of the functions of the EAC, voter registration, public elections, election preparation, polling and counting processes, and clean elections in an innovative, fun-filled and educational manner.
Mr Justice Lok said, "I hope that through the new EIC, visitors will realise and understand that election is a very large-scale project. In organising each public election, the REO has to deploy a large amount of manpower and resources, and a series of work arrangements and processes are involved, which are multifarious, intertwined and indispensable, so as to ensure that the election is conducted in an open, honest and fair manner."
During the talk on electoral information held today, Mr Justice Lok introduced Hong Kong's electoral systems to some 25 senior primary students and explained the functions of the EAC and the work of the REO through interactive quizzes and group games.
The new EIC is equipped with the Electronic Poll Register (EPR) system, which has been in use since the recent public elections. After collecting the ballot paper at the ballot paper issuing desk, the students cast a vote by stamping on the ballot paper in the voting compartments to experience the mock voting process first-hand. Mr Justice Lok helped the participants understand the EPR system and explained the points-to-note when counting the ballots as well as how to distinguish questionable ballots during the mock ballot issuance and counting activities.
In addition, the visiting students tried out four newly-designed interactive games. Apart from "Say 'No' to Corrupted Flies" which promotes clean elections and "Electors' Intersection" which promotes voter registration, they also participated in the "Constructing an Election" where they tried to construct an election at different stages, and the motion sensing game "One-day Counting Assistant" where they learnt about different kinds of questionable ballot papers and the details to be noted when counting votes.
The EIC also provides interactive information kiosks and electronic panels for visitors to browse information related to election activities, such as the boundary maps of geographical constituencies and pictures of past elections. The Exhibition Corner and Souvenir Gallery display the ballot boxes used in elections and souvenirs distributed in the past.
To tie in with the opening of the new EIC, the Ballot Box Family mascots, based on the design of ballot boxes, namely Blue Ballot, Red Ballot and Grandpa Ballot, greet the public with a new look. The REO has also created a series of their WhatsApp stickers and souvenirs. Visitors will have the opportunity to receive a complimentary souvenir of the Ballot Box Family, take photos with the mascots at the photo area and try their hand at the claw game machine to take the Ballot Box Family home with them. Mr Justice Lok hopes that the lively and adorable Ballot Box Family will enhance the public recognition of the REO and raise public awareness of electoral work.
The new EIC is located on 7/F of the Treasury Building, 3 Tonkin Street West, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, and is open from 8.45am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and on Saturday by appointment only. Members of the public are welcome to visit the centre. Interested organisations may also book guided tours at the centre. For appointment or enquiries, please call the REO hotline at 2891 1001 or email at eic@reo.gov.hk.
For more information about the EIC, please visit the website (www.reo.gov.hk/en/service-desk/ecenter.html).
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