TNAG-1607-FCO40-22122-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1987 — Page 220

Supplementary to Question No. 1

in LegCo Meeting on 7.1.87

Mrs. TAM (in Cantonese) : Sir, on 15 January 1986 when the

Chief Secretary gave a reply to the question raised by

Mr. SZETO Wah, he said that consideration would be given to

writing to all people reaching the age of 21 giving them

I wonder whether anything has

details of voter registration.

been done in this regard?

Chief Secretary : Sir, we were originally attracted to this

idea but unfortunately the computer records of the Registration

of Persons Office only contain the data which appear on the

identity card. Other data, including addresses, are stored

separately on microfilm and when we looked into this we

discovered that to retrieve the addresses of those reaching the

age of 21 would be truly a mammoth task. Furthermore, the high

mobility of

of population in Hong Kong and the tendency not

report change of addresses further reduces the usefulness of

this proposal. We have, therefore, with regret,

not to pursue it.

to

regret, Sir, decided

Mr. SZETO (in Cantonese) : Sir, at the Legco sitting held on

15 January 1986, the Chief Secretary when answering my question

said he would look into the possibility of requiring voters to

put down the date of birth so that the Government would know

about the age range of our registered voters. Can the

Government inform this Council whether the study has been

conducted and if the study has been conducted what are the

findings?