Latest news with #ElectoralAffairsCommission
South China Morning Post
03-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
National security offenders to be disqualified from Hong Kong's Legco elections
Hong Kong authorities have proposed disqualifying anyone convicted of offences endangering national security from being nominated to run in a Legislative Council election or serving as a lawmaker. Advertisement The Electoral Affairs Commission said a public consultation for the proposed guidelines, which include several changes related to national security, was launched on Thursday and would wrap up on August 1. The proposals were shared months before the next Legco election on December 7, the second to be held since the process was overhauled to follow a 'patriots only' system. The changes include the disqualification of anyone convicted of offences that endanger national security from being nominated or elected as a lawmaker, in adherence to the city's existing national security legislation Members of the Election Committee who are convicted of the same offences are also barred from voting in the polls for the Election Committee constituency. Advertisement Election candidates will also be prohibited from sending by mail any publications that constitute a national security risk.
South China Morning Post
02-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong plans to add Hetao cooperation zone to New Territories constituency
Hong Kong electoral authorities have planned to include the Hetao cooperation zone, a new innovation hub near the border, in an existing constituency in the New Territories for the coming legislative election, despite no one living there. Advertisement The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) revealed on Friday its proposal to integrate the Hetao area, which is located on both sides of the Shenzhen River and co-developed with mainland Chinese authorities, into Hong Kong's electoral map. The announcement is about seven months ahead of Hong Kong's eighth-term Legislative Council, which is scheduled for December 7. Although the current population projection for the Hetao cooperation zone as of mid-2025 is zero, the commission proposed to include the area to tie in with its development, the consultation paper read. '[We] are seeing substantial development in the loop and the first three buildings of the loop district will become functional soon … the EAC will see that it will be an appropriate moment to include the loop in the present exercise,' Justice David Lok Kai-hong, chairman of the electoral body, said. Advertisement 'We see that the timing is right.'
South China Morning Post
18-03-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong to hold next Legislative Council election on December 7
Hong Kong will hold its second Legislative Council election under the revamped 'patriots-only' electoral overhaul, on December 7, according to the city's leader. Advertisement Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday also said that he had instructed the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau to create comprehensive deployment and emergency plans to ensure the elections are held smoothly. '[The bureau] was asked to work closely with the Electoral Affairs Commission to do proper planning and come up contingency plans on areas such as publicity, recruitment and training of electoral staff, arrangement of voting and ballot counting, data system and security,' Lee said ahead of his meeting with the government's key decision-making Executive Council. He expressed hope that the eighth term of the Legco election, held every four years, would be conducted in a fair, just and honest manner. He also hoped the election would pick out 90 lawmakers who 'love the country, love Hong Kong, have the ability and commitment' to serve the public. Advertisement Under the Beijing-decreed electoral shake-up to ensure only 'patriots' hold political power, the legislature was expanded from 70 to 90 seats, with the lion's share of 40 seats going to the Election Committee constituency, picked by the powerful body predominantly occupied by Beijing loyalists which also elects the city's leader. Thirty seats were allocated to the trade-based functional constituencies, while the number of directly elected lawmakers returned in the geographical constituencies was slashed from 35 to 20.
