Electoral Affairs Commission Report on 2023 District Council Ordinary Election published

Breaking news: explosive findings revealed in 2023 district council ordinary election report by electoral affairs commission

Upon improving district governance and reforming the District Councils (DCs) in 2023, the seventh term of District Council election was successfully concluded on December 10 last year. The new term of DCs have assumed office since January 1 this year. The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) Report on the 2023 District Council Ordinary Election (DCOE) was published today (April 19).

The Report describes the EAC's conduct and supervision of this election at various stages, and provides a detailed account of the related preparatory work, electoral arrangements, complaint handling, etc. The EAC also detailed in its Report their review of the procedures and arrangements for this election, including the investigation findings on the Electronic Poll Register system incident, and put forth specific enhancement recommendations for improving future electoral arrangements.

"We are very grateful to the EAC for their efforts and various arrangements made to ensure the smooth implementation of this election in a fair, just and clean manner, as well as their in-depth and detailed review of various electoral arrangements with respective recommendations," a Government spokesman said.

"The successful conclusion of this DC election is of particular significance. The reformed DCs have greatly benefited the implementation of livelihood-related work, and have been conducive to the welfare of people, enabling them to live and work in contentment. At the same time, the full implementation of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" and the "last piece of the puzzle" of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) governance system ensures the steadfast and successful implementation of "one country, two systems", and the long-term stability and safety of the HKSAR. The Government will continue to work closely with the EAC to follow up on the recommendations contained in the report," the Government spokesman continued.

In accordance with the requirements of the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance (Cap. 541), the EAC submitted the report on the 2023 DCOE to the Chief Executive on March 8, 2024. In line with the principle of open and transparent elections, the Government agreed with the EAC's recommendation that the report should be made public. The report can be downloaded from the EAC website (www.eac.hk) and is available for viewing at the Registration and Electoral Office and the Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of District Offices.

Source: AI-generated images

Emsd investigates cybersecurity breach on online server platform

A spokesman for the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) said today (May 2) that the department is following up on a system security incident of an online server platform, which involved data collected by the EMSD in "restriction-testing declaration" (RTD) operations conducted between March and July of 2022 in combating COVID-19.

Data stored on the designated online server platform include names, telephone numbers, identity card numbers and addresses of about 17 000 members of the public at 14 buildings which are listed at Annex. The data were only accessible to authorised personnel by logging in with a password.

On the evening of April 30, the EMSD was notified by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data that according to a public report, the data concerned could be browsed on the server platform. The EMSD immediately checked and found that the password login system failed. The data could be browsed without entering any password but they were not downloadable. Upon EMSD's request, the service provider of the online server platform removed the data from the platform that evening (April 30). The EMSD has reported the incident to the Police, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the Security Bureau.

The EMSD expresses sincere apologies for the incident. Although there is no evidence that relevant data have been published so far, the EMSD will notify relevant households by mailing to flats of the buildings involved. In case of suspicious circumstances, they should report to the Police as soon as possible. For enquiries, please call the EMSD's hotline at 2333 3762.

Source: AI-generated images