EAC To Consider Relaxing Election Laws

The chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), David Lok, said on Friday that officials will look into making election laws and guidelines easier to follow.

In his first meeting with the press since taking up his new role in August, Lok said he'd received feedback from candidates that Hong Kong's electoral laws and guidelines are very complicated.

He said there are no concrete plans yet on the way forward, and that he would proceed with caution.

"The aim of election laws is to ensure polls are held in a fair and honest manner. If we relax any election rules, we need to check if that would go against these principles, and if so we need to be very careful," the judge told reporters.

Lok added that officials are ready for the Legislative Council by-election later this month. He said he would not estimate what time vote counting will be completed on December 18, while stressing the need for accuracy.

The EAC chairman also said he would reach out to young people and highlight the importance of holding fair and clean elections.