Elections

Public Consultation

The 2019 District Council ("DC") Ordinary Election will be held in late 2019. The Electoral Affairs Commission ("EAC") has drawn up the provisional recommendations on the boundaries and names of the 452 District Council Constituency Areas ("DCCAs") in the 18 administrative districts (“districts”) for the 2019 DC Ordinary Election. We invite your views on these provisional recommendations.


Background

In accordance with sections 4(a), 18 and 19 of the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance (Chapter 541) (“EACO”), the EAC is required to review the existing boundaries of the DC constituencies, conduct public consultation on its provisional recommendations, and submit a report to the Chief Executive (“CE”) on its recommendations on the boundaries and names of DCCAs at an interval of not more than 36 months from the preceding DC ordinary election. As the last DC ordinary election was held on 22 November 2015, the EAC has to submit the report on the constituency boundaries and names for the 2019 DC Ordinary Election to the CE by 21 November 2018.

In respect of reviewing the boundaries of the DC constituencies, it is a statutory requirement that the EAC has to examine the existing boundaries of all DC constituencies on the basis of the projected population of individual constituencies in the year in which the relevant election would be held, and appropriately adjust the boundaries of those DCCAs with projected population exceeding the permissible upper or lower limits with a view to ensuring that their projected population will fall within the statutory permissible range. For DCCAs where the projected population do fall within the permissible range, adjustment to their boundaries would not be necessary in principle. In delineating those DCCAs requiring boundary adjustments, the EAC must follow the statutory criteria and working principles. Where necessary, the boundaries of the adjacent DCCAs (even though the projected population do fall within the permissible range) would also be adjusted correspondingly. Pursuant to the statutory requirements, apart from taking into account the projected population, the EAC must also have regard to the other statutory factors, including community identities, preservation of local ties and physical features of the concerned areas when adjusting the DCCA boundaries. The EAC cannot adjust the boundaries solely with strict compliance with the statutory permissible range without considering the other statutory factors as mentioned above. As such, where necessary, the EAC would recommend relevant DCCAs be allowed to depart from the permissible range having regard to those statutory factors.

Taking into account an increase of 21 elected seats for the 10 districts in the 2019 DC Ordinary Election as approved by the Legislative Council, the EAC has correspondingly delineated a total of 21 new DCCAs in relevant districts and adjusted the boundaries of existing DCCAs in accordance with the projected population growth of each district as well as the aforementioned statutory criteria and working principles. As in the past, in drawing up the delineation proposals, the EAC has adopted the approach which will affect the least number of existing DCCAs or less population so as to minimise any possible inconvenience to electors due to the boundary adjustments. There are various options in delineating DC boundaries and there is no sole or absolute way to do so. The EAC must take all the factors into account, mainly the population figures while having regard to the other statutory factors. These factors do certainly not include political ones or any factors not relevant to the statutory requirements.

Under the EAC’s provisional recommendations, 21 new DCCAs would be created and the boundaries of 128 existing DCCAs would be adjusted. The proposed boundaries and names of the DCCAs requiring adjustments and those 12 DCCAs allowed to depart from the permissible range with the relevant considerations by the EAC can be viewed by clicking here. A brief summary of the EAC’s provisional recommendations listing out the codes, names and projected population of all the 452 DCCAs in the 18 districts for the 2019 DC Ordinary Election can be viewed by clicking here.

In accordance with section 19 of the EACO, maps showing the boundaries and names of all the proposed DCCAs and a document containing the boundary descriptions of the proposed constituency areas will be made available for public consultation lasting 30 days from 23 July 2018 to 21 August 2018, both dates inclusive. The maps and the proposed constituency areas boundary descriptions are available at this website for on-screen viewing or downloading. Copies of these maps and documents are also available for public inspection during ordinary business / opening hours at Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of all district offices, the Registration and Electoral Office, all post offices, all management offices of public housing estates and all major and district public libraries of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.


Public Consultation

Please send your written representations on the provisional recommendations to the EAC Secretariat the latest by 21 August 2018 through any of the following means -

By post:	Electoral Affairs Commission Secretariat, 10th Floor, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
By fax:	2511 1682
By e-mail:	eacenq@eac.hk

Late representations will not be considered.

You may also make oral representations to us at the public forums to be held on 1 August 2018 and 3 August 2018 at Lai Chi Kok Community Hall and Shatin Lung Hang Estate Community Centre respectively. Details of the forums can be viewed by clicking here.

In view of the limited time available for the making of oral representations at the public forums, it is anticipated that the EAC will not be able to entertain lengthy representations at the forums. Therefore, members of the public who wish to make detailed representations are invited to send in written representations.

The EAC has always made its best endeavour to ensure that all public elections are held in an open, fair and honest manner. The delineation of constituencies is an important element of the arrangements for the 2019 DC Ordinary Election. We therefore encourage members of the public to put forward their views through submission of written representations or attendance at the public forums. To ensure that the final recommendations of the EAC may fully take into account the public opinions, it is wished that the public do actively participate in the consultation and express views for or against the provisional recommendations.

Views received will be published in their entirety for public information. If you wish to keep your name or your views confidential, you are invited to indicate so clearly in your submissions. All submissions will be treated as public information unless otherwise specified.

For enquiries, please call the EAC Secretariat at 3847 7891.

Electoral Affairs Commission
July 2018