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"The March 1995 MC elections were based on the 1994 register then prevailing, whereas the September elections were based on the 1995 register in force," he said. About 110,000 names in the 1994 register had not been rolled over to the 1995 register as a result of the major vetting exercise conducted earlier in the year. He said to become an elector in Hong Kong is a right, not a duty. Those eligible have to go through an application procedure before they are registered.
"This right has to be acquired with a little effort.
"If an elector has changed his address or has received an inquiry from the REO, he should also make a little effort to notify or respond to us to preserve his right as an elector," he said. The BEC will review the electoral arrangements in the light of the experience in the September LegCo elections, including the vetting procedure to update electors' particulars.
"We shall consider how the arrangements can be further improved," Mr Justice Woo said.
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He said that a number of possible improvements would be considered:
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To further strengthen publicity and civic education efforts to impress upon electors the importance to update their records on the register of electors.
To send inquiry letters by registered post so as to alert electors of the importance of the inquiry.
To explore the feasibility of finding the telephone numbers of those electors under inquiry in the telephone directories with the aid of computer programmes, so that they could be contacted by phone and the position could be better explained to them.
To maintain a closer liaison with the Post Office and the Home Affairs Department to have a better understanding on the subjects of inquiries.
End/Thursday, October 12, 1995