The Consultation Report on Review of Electoral Arrangements was published today, presenting views received during a public consultation in late 2017 as well as government recommendations.

The Government plans to table an amendment bill at the Legislative Council this year to implement an exemption regarding the regulation of Internet election advertisements.

Overwhelming support has been received for an exemption in the Elections (Corrupt & Illegal Conduct) Ordinance.

It would mean a third party that incurs merely electricity and Internet charges can be exempt from criminal liability arising from incurring election expenses as a result of expressing views on the Internet that constitute an election advertisement.

On regulation of election surveys, the Government proposed to not make any changes as there is no community consensus on the issues raised in the consultation paper.

Views from political parties on polling hours were diverse, while the overwhelming majority of other written submissions were not in favour of shortening the hours of LegCo and District Council elections.

The Government proposed to maintain present polling hours for the time being.

More than 15,400 submissions were received during the seven-week consultation period.

Click here for the full report.