The Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2014 that tweaks electoral laws to improve voter registration arrangements and electoral procedures for Legislative Council, District Council and Rural Representative elections was gazetted today.
It introduces technical amendments based on experience gained from previous elections.
The Bill proposes to advance the statutory deadline for voter registration application by 14 calendar days. This would allow people 10 more days to inspect the provisional registers and omissions lists and make claims and objections, and provide the Revising Officer with four more days to handle claims and objections hearings.
Making false or incorrect statements concerning voter registration would become an indictable offence, not just a summary one, under another proposal in the bill. This would remove the six-month time bar for prosecution, enhancing enforcement effectiveness and the deterrent effect.
The Bill will be tabled in the Legislative Council for first and second readings on April 16.
Click here to see the related LegCo brief.
