Harsher penalty for polling booth violations
A tougher penalty will be imposed on people caught filming and taking photographs inside polling stations during voting to choose members of the Election Committee that will choose the next chief executive.
Offenders will face a maximum six months' imprisonment - double the present three months - on top of the existing fine of up to $5,000.
The punishment is part of revised guidelines for election-related activities that the Electoral Affairs Commission released yesterday for a month-long public consultation exercise. The commission said the increased penalty would be in line with that already introduced for the same offences in the 2004 Legislative Council Election.
This followed suggestions that some people might conspire to use mobile-phone cameras to take shots of ballot papers to show how they have voted and transmit it to a third party.
Another important revision is that if a person is no longer a district councillor, or a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Hong Kong delegate, or full council member of the Heung Yee Kuk, they will not be able to stand as a candidate or be elected as a member for their respective sub-sectors.
Commission chairman Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing said: 'Modelled on the guidelines for the last Election Committee sub-sector by-elections in 2005, the latest version has been updated for use in the conduct and supervision of the ordinary elections to be held on December 10.'
A public forum will be held on August 3 to gauge public views on the proposed guidelines.
