The Electoral Affairs Commission for the Chief Executive Election today issued a remainder that any campaigning activities for the 11 August poll to choose members of the Chief Executive Election Committee, should be in line with Chief Executive Election Law and the 1/CAECE/2024 guideline issued by the Electoral Affairs Commission.
The official campaign period for the poll to choose the Chief Executive Election Committee runs from after the stroke to midnight on Saturday (27 July), and ends at midnight on 9 August.
The poll to choose members of the Chief Executive Election Committee will be held on 11 August. The 400-member Chief Executive Election Committee will subsequently elect the sixth-term Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
The President of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Ms Song Man Lei, today met reporters after a Commission meeting. The Commission meeting had included discussion with members of the general audit committee overseeing the Chief Executive Election Committee polling, and overseeing the Chief Executive Election itself.
The Electoral Affairs Commission has had multiple discussions on the criteria for judging validity of the votes, said Ms Song. Today, after exchanging views with the general audit committee, a clearer and more consistent set of vote-counting standards has been agreed upon. Both sides would maintain close communication to ensure the accuracy of the count, and of overall audit work for the election process. The aim was that the announcement of the 11 August poll would be made the following day, in a process that ran smoothly.
Ms Song told reporters that training for election staff would begin at the end of this month. It would focus on explaining to polling station staff and vote-counting personnel the criteria for valid and invalid votes, and instructing them in relation to those things. The staff would also familiarise themselves with the electronic vote-counting process, in order to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the work. Additionally, training would also focus on strengthening those staff members’ ability to respond effectively to various situations that might arise on election day.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Affairs Commission has optimised the ballot design and ballot paper for the 11 August poll. It was believed that this would help voters correctly mark their ballots. Ms Song asked for voters’ cooperation in terms of familiarising themselves – before casting their ballot – with the “how to vote” promotional information published by the Electoral Affairs Commission. This was with a view to reducing the occurrence of invalid votes.
The pre-election procedures for the poll to choose members of the Chief Executive Election Committee had been successfully completed as scheduled. Recently, election guidelines have been announced, notices had been issued to provide venues for candidates to hold promotional events, and an online platform has been launched for voters to check their polling locations. The current focus was on “campaign propaganda” and the voting process on 11 August, added Ms Song.
Guideline 1/CAECE/2024 defines what is considered “campaign propaganda” and what things are either prohibited or illegal. Candidates and other individuals relevant to the process were urged to pay close attention to proper campaigning activities during the official campaigning period.
Candidates were allowed to organise promotional activities during the campaign period, said Ms Song. The Electoral Affairs Commission has also arranged, for 28 July, 3 August, and 4 August respectively, that the basement lecture hall of the Public Administration Building be made available for candidates from the seven sectors and their respective sub-sectors, to hold campaigning events at designated times.
