Public consultation on Rural Representative Election proposed guidelines commences
The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) today (July 20) released the proposed guidelines on election-related activities in respect of the Rural Representative Election (RRE) for public consultation. The consultation will last until August 18.
The 2027 Rural Ordinary Election will be held early next year. According to established practice, the EAC will review and update the guidelines on election-related activities before each rural ordinary election.
The Chairman of the EAC, Mr Justice David Lok, said that these guidelines aim to explain in simple language the subsisting electoral law to remind candidates and other stakeholders of the provisions and requirements under the electoral law; and to promulgate a code of conduct based on the principles of fairness and equality with regard to the election-related activities not stipulated by the law. The EAC has always made its best endeavours to ensure that all public elections are held in an open, honest and fair manner, and formulating electoral guidelines plays an important role in the conduct of elections. The EAC wishes members of the public to actively participate.
The proposed guidelines are prepared on the basis of the existing guidelines for the RRE (October 2022 edition) and the supplementary information compiled in March 2026 for the Rural By-election held in May 2026, with appropriate amendments which are mainly composed of four categories: (1) to reflect the latest electoral legislation, such as updating the penalty for unlawfully displaying an election advertisement without the necessary written permission or authorisation; (2) to reflect new or enhanced election-related arrangements, for instance, candidates could submit election forms via electronic means; (3) to further elaborate the contents of the guidelines to enable candidates and relevant persons to more easily grasp the areas which they should pay attention to; and (4) to reorganise where appropriate the structure and content of the proposed guidelines by, for example, explaining the relevant electoral arrangements in the form of lists and flowcharts, consolidating the contents of the chapters, etc, with a view to making the proposed guidelines more concise and easier to comprehend.
The proposed guidelines can be downloaded from the EAC website (www.eac.hk), or viewed at the designated offices of the Registration and Electoral Office, the Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of all district offices and the major and district public libraries.
Members of the public could submit written representations on the proposed guidelines to the EAC Secretariat by email (eacenq@eac.hk), post (8/F, Treasury Building, 3 Tonkin Street West, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon) or fax (2511 1682) on or before August 18. For written representations submitted by post, the postmark date will be taken as the submission date. Late submissions will not be considered.
For enquiries, please call 2891 1001.
The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) today (July 20) released the proposed guidelines on election-related activities in respect of the Rural Representative Election for public consultation. The Chairman of the EAC, Mr Justice David Lok (centre), and EAC members Professor Daniel Shek (left) and Mr Bernard Man, SC (right), welcome views from members of the public. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
