(c) elections need to be held on a school or public holiday as school
premises are used as polling stations;
(d) it would be impracticable to combine all three types of election, given the separate electorate and different franchises for the Legislative Council. Technically it would be possible to combine the District Board and municipal council elections, but it could be confusing to electors to have to assimilate simultaneously campaign material from the two groups of candidates. Some candidates for the Regional Council and New Territories District Boards might object to having to campaign simultaneously for both institutions, or having to decide whether or not to contest one of the two.
129. A further point for consideration, regardless of whether the basic sequence of elections is to be changed, is the possibility of introducing an element of 'staggering' into the terms of office of Legislative Council Members, whereby different groups of Members serve terms of equal length but expiring at different times. Given the increasing volume and complexity of the Council's business, there may be merit in such an arrangement which would help engender a greater degree of continuity. It could be achieved by holding the functional constituency elections and the electoral college elections, neither of which involves the general electorate, in different years. The terms of office of Appointed Members could also be 'staggered', as in the past, if this is considered desirable.
Options for 1988
130. The options for 1988 as regards the sequence and timing of elections. would appear to be:
(i) no change;
(ii) to alter the basic sequence of elections to one in which the Legislative Council elections follow the District Board and municipal council elections, and either:
(a) make no other change; or
(b) introduce an element of 'staggering' by holding the functional constituency and electoral college elections to the Legislative Council in different years.
131. In the light of the considerations set out in paragraphs 128 and 129 above, one of the possible ways of implementing option (ii)(b), if it were generally agreed that this should be done, might be to adopt the following sequence for the next set of elections:
(a) March 1988 for the District Boards;
(b) August/September 1988 for the Legislative Council (either the 12 functional constituency seats or the ten District Board seats from the electoral college);
(c) March 1989 for the Municipal Councils;
33