To advise on operational practicalities and on possible changes in legislation and regulations.
6.9
These three aims include the two key aspects, regulatory and the initiatory. Under the former the Commissioner monitors the implementation of the detailed regulations and ensures their full applica under the second he or she has a positive role, for instance to secure the maximum registration of electors and to facilitate the widest participation of candidates and electors in the formal processes. The third aim places on the Commissioner the duty of reviewing and reporting as a powerful means of demonstrating the independence of the position and its key role in enhancing democracy.
6.10
The Electoral Board would have a monitoring and not a management function, and would also be a channel between the election administration and the politicians.
6.11
If a precedent is required for the structure outlined in this section, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, set up in 1974, could well provide a useful model. It is "independent of the Civil Service and the Commissioner is responsible to the Governor" and it is guided "on policy matters" by the Advisory Committee on Corruption. [p252, Hong Kong 1990, Goverment Information Service; and p24, The Other Hong Kong Report, CUP, 1989]
7.
7.1
Boundaries
The associated problem of boundaries remains. The delimitation of electoral constituencies can have a highly significant influence on the election outcome. It is invariably and understandably contentious. It is therefore essential that an independent process be set up for the establishment of constituencies and for their regular review.
7.2
Although from time there have been challenges to the legislative assumptions that underlie the Boundary Commission's powers in the UK, its rules and procedures are generally accepted as being open and fair. They should be considered for application to the Hong Kong situation, amended where necessary to accommodate particular circumstances, including, for instance, a narrower percentage of deviation from the mean number of electors in each constituency, at least until there are substantially greater numbers of seats to be elected directly.
7.3
The problems of delimitation are at their most acute when they have to produce constituencies which elect the same number of representatives under the first-past-the-post system. Under the Single Transferable Vote the number of seats in a “natural” constituency can vary with the number of electors, thereby easing considerably the pressures on a Boundary Commission.
8.
8.1
Registration of Electors
In one important respect the qualifications for registration as an elector in Hong Kong are broader than those of the UK in that seven years residence in Hong Kong is deemed to entitle an individual to the right to vote, whatever his or her origin.
Given this evident desire to draw as many residents as possible into the democratic process it is odd, and anomalous, that although the age of majority is eighteen, the qualifying age for voting remains at twenty-one. We recommend that one's eighteen birthday be the date on which one becomes entitled to vote, in line with current practice in most democratic countries.
8.2
Only some fifty per cent overall of the estimated electorate have been registered in the current Register of Electors. Even that is an improvement of some six per cent over the rate reported in December 1989 by the Hong Kong Registration and Electoral Division. One area bas only some 35 per cent of the eligible persons registered.
8.3
The lack of an electioneering tradition involving organised political parties may well be one of the contributing factors. Certainly, one of the reasons frequently argued in other countries with a similarly low registration rate, that of election "fatigue" amongst the public, cannot be advanced in Hon Kong. The failure to obtain in future registers a significant increase in the registration rate could well bave serious adverse consequences for the public perception of the whole electoral system.
8.4
During our meeting with senior registration officials we were impressed with both their desire and determination to carry out their duties as effectively as possible. The task of any electoral registration officer is, at tinies, both difficult and frustrating, especially when faced with apparent public apathy to the registration system. However in view of the significant changes that will occur in the status and governance of Hong Kon over the next six years a new approach is needed to electoral registration so that as many residents as is possible can be involved in the political process.
8.5
Under the existing Electoral Provisions Ordinance the primary responsibility for electoral registration lies, in effect, with the individual member of the public. The Ordinance does not prevent the Registration Officer from taking a much more positive approach to the process and that is what we recommend. In practice that would put the Registration Officer on a par with his UK colleagues where, under Section 9 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, the registration officer bas ".... the duty to tak reasonable steps to obtain information required by him (for the preparation of the register of electors)."
8.6
During the preparation of the next register we would recommend that the following steps be taken:
8.6.1
First, the electoral registration form be redesigned to make it more consumer friendly rather than in its present form where it appears to be specifically designed to assist in data preparation. Second, and in conjunction with the other proposal below, that a prepaid postage envelope be supplied so that the public can, without the need to look for glue or any other sealing method, immediately post back the form if it has not been collected.
8.6.2
Third, a change in emphasis should be made from a postal canvass to retums obtained by canvassers calling at the individual residential units. The canvassers could deliver to each residence an appropriate supply of forms with a request to have them completed and available for collection in, say, three or four
ERS Dalenston in Hong Kong Maran 7
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