The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) noted that the District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2023 (the Bill) was passed by the Legislative Council today (July 6).
A spokesman for the EAC said, "The current term of office of the District Councils (DCs) will end on December 31, 2023. The Bill amends the provisions relating to the composition and the formation method of the DCs, and the nomination procedure of candidates. To ensure that the 2023 DC Ordinary Election will be smoothly and orderly conducted in an open, honest, fair, efficient and user-friendly manner, the EAC, together with the Registration and Electoral Office (REO), will kick-start the necessary preparatory work and practical arrangements for the election at full steam in accordance with the amended electoral laws."
"With the full support of the REO, the EAC is updating the Guidelines on Election-related Activities in respect of the DC Election to reflect the amendments to the electoral laws. Other election-related tasks include arranging election venues; recruitment and training of electoral staff; procurement and arrangement of delivery of electoral materials; implementing polling and counting arrangements, as well as formulating relevant security and contingency plans," the spokesman added.
The EAC is an independent, impartial and apolitical body established under the EAC Ordinance (Cap. 541). In view of the huge workload of the 2023 DC Ordinary Election, the EAC will continue to closely monitor the preparation and conduct of the entire election the same as always to ensure that the election will be smoothly run under the principles of openness, fairness and honesty.
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