Election returns remained in paper form

May 19, 2000

An amendment order which seeks to exempt election returns from the electronic submission process was published in the Gazette today (May 19).

"Under the Electronic Transactions (Exclusion) (Amendment) Order 2000, election returns will have to be submitted in paper form to ensure the solemnity of the electoral process and to facilitate vetting of such returns by the Registration and Electoral Office, as well as by the Independent Commission Against Corruption for possible cases of non-compliance with the legal requirements concerning election," a spokesman for the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau explained.

The amendment order excludes section 37(1) and (2) of the newly enacted Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance from the application of section 5 of the Electronic Transactions Ordinance concerning the submission of information under law by means of electronic records.

Section 37(1) of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance requires a candidate to submit election returns to the Chief Electoral Officer in relation to the expenses he incurred and the donations he received in connection with an election. Section 37(2) of the Ordinance stipulates that the election returns must be made within 30 days after the publication of the election results, and, among other things, have to be accompanied by receipts and invoices for each expense of $100 or more and by receipt only for each donation of a value more than $1,000.

"Experiences of past elections show that election returns were normally accompanied by a large volume of invoices and receipts which would be difficult to handle if they were submitted in electronic form," the spokesman said.

Subject to negative vetting by the Legislative Council, the amendment order will come into force on 29 June 2000, so that the exemption would be in place before the Election Committee Subsector election and the Legislative Council election which are scheduled to be held on 9 July 2000 and 10 September 2000 respectively.

The Electronic Transactions Ordinance was passed by the Legislative Council on 5 January 2000. Sections 5 to 8 of the Ordinance concern the submission and retention of information in the form of electronic records and the use of digital signatures.Government departments have taken the lead in adopting electronic transactions by accepting electronic submission under the bulk of the statutory provisions in the laws of Hong Kong starting from 7 April 2000.

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