Frequently Asked Questions — Ex-officio Members of the Election Committee

be holding a specified office in any of the following 8 Election Committee subsectors:
1. Architectural, Surveying, Planning and Landscape;
2. Education;
3. Engineering;
4. Legal;
5. Medical and Health Services;
6. Social Welfare;
7. Members of the Legislative Council; or
8. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region deputies to the National People's Congress and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
For detail of the list of specified offices, please click here;
be registered as an elector in a geographical constituency or be eligible and have applied to be so registered (You may click here for GC elector requirement and refer to Q2);
not be subject to any disqualification from registration as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee (You may refer to Q8 for reasons for disqualification from registration); and
not hold any office which is not eligible to be registered as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee as listed below:
1. a principal official appointed pursuant to a nomination under Article 48(5) of the Basic Law;
2. a directorate officer of the Government;
3. an Administrative Officer of the Government;
4. an Information Officer of the Government;
5. a police officer; or
6. any other civil servant who is holding a specified office in the official capacity.

Q2: I am not a registered elector in a geographical constituency and I will not be eligible for registration as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee?

A2: If you are eligible to be registered as an elector in a geographical constituency but are not yet a registered elector in a geographical constituency, you can submit your registration as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee together with the “Application for New Registration / Report on Change of Particulars by an Elector in a Geographical Constituency” (REO-GC).

Please note that if your application for New Registration in a Geographical Constituency is submitted after the statutory deadline (2 June), your application for registration as an ex-officio member in the Election Committee will be processed in the following voter registration cycle. For details, please refer to Q5 of FAQ – GC.

Q3: Why should I register?

A3: A person eligible to be registered as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee can only become an ex-officio member of the Election Committee and exercise the relevant functions as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee, including nominating Chief Executive and Legislative Council candidates, and electing the Chief Executive and 40 members of the Legislative Council, after completion of the registration procedures.

Q4: How to make an application for registration?

A4:

If you are a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC deputy) or a HKSAR member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC member) and wish to be registered as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee, you can:
- download a form here:
REO-EC(X1)(Application by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Deputies to the National People’s Congress and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference for New Registration as Ex-officio Members of Election Committee)

Regardless of which subsector you would like to be registered in, your application form for registration must be submitted by the Friends of Hong Kong Association Limited.
If you are a specified person of the Election Committee (a person holding a specified office of the subsector) and wish to be registered as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee, you can:
- download a form here:
REO-EC(X2)(Application by Specified Person for Registration as Ex-officio Members of Election Committee)
Under specific circumstances, the specified person may designate another person who is holding an office in a relevant body in relation to the specified office to be registered as an ex-officio member of the subsector) to register as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee. If you wish to designate a person to be registered as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee, you can:
- download a form here:
REO-EC(X3)(Application by Designated Person/Council Chairman or Chairman of the Board of Governors of the relevant University for New Registration as Ex-Officio Members of Election Committee)
If you are the Council Chairman / the Chairman of the Board of Governors and the Vice-Chancellor / President of your university is not eligible to be registered as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee (you may refer to Q9), you can submit your registration by completing the application form below –
- download a form here:
REO-EC(X3)(Application by Designated Person/Council Chairman or Chairman of the Board of Governors of the relevant University for New Registration as Ex-Officio Members of Election Committee)

The above form is in PDF format.
Please download Acrobat Reader to view and print it.

get a form from the Registration and Electoral Office at 8/F, Treasury Building, 3 Tonkin Street West, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon or 13/F Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay, Kowloon
after completing and signing the registration form (with authenticating stamp of the body), you may submit the form by post, fax (fax number: 2891 1180), email (email address: form@reo.gov.hk) or upload the form to our e-Form Upload Platform (www.reo-form.gov.hk) - if submitting via the e-Form Upload Platform of the REO, please take note of the application number generated by the system so that the application status may be checked afterwards when needed.

Q5: What are the registration procedures?

A5: If you are eligible to be registered, you can submit an application form to the Electoral Registration Officer.

Upon receiving your application form, the Electoral Registration Officer will forward it to the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee (“CERC”). The CERC must, as soon as practicable, determine the validity of the registration concerned.

In determining whether a registration form or a registration of a person is valid, the CERC may require –

the Electoral Registration Officer to furnish any information in the possession of the Electoral Registration Officer that relates to the registration;
the Electoral Registration Officer to obtain any other information that relates to the registration from any person; and
a relevant body or the person to furnish any other information that the Committee considers appropriate for enabling the Committee to be satisfied as to the validity of the registration form or the registration.

If the CERC determines that your registration is valid, you will receive a notice from the Electoral Registration Officer.

You should sign the written oath as soon as practicable after your registration is determined as valid by the CERC. Otherwise, your name will not be included in the final register of members of the Election Committee for that term of office.

If your name is included in the final register of members of the Election Committee, you are formally registered as a member of the Election Committee and able to exercise its relevant functions.

Q6: Are there any application deadlines for registration as ex-officio Members of the Election Committee?

A6: If you have newly assumed the specified office, please submit your registration form to the Electoral Registration Officer as soon as practicable.

If you are not a registered elector in a geographical constituency, please refer to Q2.

Q7: I become a holder of a specified office after the publication of the final register of members of the Election Committee. Can I submit an application for registration?

A7: Yes.

If —

you become a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC deputy) or a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC member);
you (being an NPC deputy or a CPPCC member originally) become a holder of a specified office other than the office of NPC deputy or CPPCC member,

the Friends of Hong Kong Association Limited may submit another registration form to the Electoral Registration Officer in relation to the deputy or member.
Or
you become a holder of a specified office; or
the registration of a specified person or a designated person is determined as invalid by the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee,

you may designate another person under section 5J(3) of the Schedule to the Chief Executive Election Ordinance (Cap. 569) (if applicable) by submitting another registration form to the Electoral Registration Officer.

Q8: Who is disqualified from being registered?

A8:

A person is disqualified from being registered as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee if the person —
1. has in Hong Kong or in any other place been sentenced to death or imprisonment (by whatever name called) and has not either —
  1. served the sentence or undergone such other punishment as a competent authority may have substituted for the sentence; or
  2. received a free pardon;
2. on the date of submission of the registration form, is serving a sentence of imprisonment;
3. without limiting paragraph (a), where the registration form is submitted within 5 years after the date of the person’s conviction, is or has been convicted —
  1. of having engaged in corrupt conduct or illegal conduct in contravention of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance (Cap. 554);
  2. of an offence against Part II of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap. 201); or
  3. of any offence prescribed by section 7 of Schedule 4A to the District Councils Ordinance (Cap. 547) or the EAC Regulations;
4. is found for the time being under the Mental Health Ordinance (Cap. 136) to be incapable, by reason of mental incapacity, of managing and administering his or her property and affairs; or
5. is a member of the armed forces of the People’s Republic of China or any other country or territory.
A person is also disqualified from being registered as an ex-officio member if, within the 5 years before the date of submission of the registration form —
1. the person has vacated an office, or has been disqualified from entering on an office, under the law, for declining or neglecting to take a specified oath; or
2. the person has been declared or decided in accordance with any law —
  1. to be in breach of a specified oath (Note); or
  2. to have failed to fulfil the legal requirements and conditions on upholding the Basic Law and bearing allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
Note: “Specified oath” means an oath taken under the law that the oath-taker will uphold the Basic Law and bear allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

Q9: Can I designate another person as an ex-officio member for my subsector?

A9: Generally speaking, the holders of the specified offices in each of the subsector (i.e. specified persons) may register as the ex-officio members of that subsector. If the specified person cannot meet some of the registration eligibility, the substitution arrangement is as follows.

(A) Architectural, Surveying, Planning and Landscape / Engineering / Medical and Health Services / Social Welfare subsectors

Under the following circumstances, the specified persons may designate another person (i.e. designated person) who is holding an office in a relevant body to be registered as the ex-officio member of that subsector:

the specified person is ineligible to be registered as ex-officio member due to the following reasons:
1. he is not registered as an elector (or has not made an application to be so registered) under the Legislative Council Ordinance (Cap. 542) in the existing Geographical Constituencies (“GCs”) final register or is disqualified from being registered as an elector for a GC; or
2. he is a Principal Official appointed pursuant to a nomination under Article 48(5) of the Basic Law, specified officers (i.e. directorate officer of the Government, Administrative Officer of the Government; Information Officer of the Government, police officer) or any other civil servant who is holding a specified office in his or her official capacity; or
the specified person is holding more than one specified office and has submitted registration for another specified office.

(B) Education subsector

If the specified person is the Vice-Chancellor / President / President and Vice-Chancellor of the relevant University, and the specified person is ineligible to be registered as ex-officio member due to the following reasons:

he is not registered as an elector (or has not made an application to be so registered) under the Legislative Council Ordinance (Cap. 542) in the existing GCs final register or is disqualified from being registered as an elector for a GC; or
he is a Principal Official appointed pursuant to a nomination under Article 48(5) of the Basic Law, specified officers (i.e. directorate officer of the Government, Administrative Officer of the Government; Information Officer of the Government, police officer) or any other civil servant who is holding a specified office in his or her official capacity,

the relevant Council Chairman / the Chairman of the Board of Governors is eligible to be registered as the ex-officio member of the subsector.

(C) Legal / Members of the Legislative Council subsectors

If the specified person is ineligible to be registered / holding more than one specified office and has submitted registration for another specified office, there is no substitution arrangement for the specified office in these subsectors concerned.

Each person may only be registered as an ex-officio member for one specified office. For details on the registration of designated persons as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee, please refer to Q4.

Q10: Can a specified person designate any person to register as an officio member of the Election Committee?

A10: Under the circumstances set out in Q9, a specified person, by completing the specified form (see Q4), can designate a person who is

holding an office in a relevant body in relation to the specified office concerned;
eligible to be registered as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee; and
not disqualified from being so registered.

Q11: When should ex-officio members of the Election Committee submit written oath?

A11: The Electoral Registration Officer must not include the name of an ex-officio member of a term of office in the final register of members of the Election Committee for that term of office unless the Officer has received the written oath signed by the ex-officio member concerned.

For the ex-officio member whose registration is determined as valid after the publication of the final register of members of the Election Committee for that term of office, the ex-officio member concerned must sign the written oath as soon as practicable after the ex-officio member’s registration is determined as valid for that term of office under section 5N of Schedule to the Chief Executive Election Ordinance (Cap. 569).

For the ex-officio member whose name appears in the interim register of members of the Election Committee published for that term of office, the ex-officio member concerned must sign the written oath within the period between —

the date of publication of the interim register of members of the Election Committee for that term of office; and
7 days before the date of publication of the final register of members of the Election Committee for that term of office.

A12:

If you newly become a holder of a specified office, and are currently registered in the NPC and CPPCC subsector or registered in another subsector with substantial connection, you must register as an ex-officio member of the EC in the subsector which your newly assumed specified office belongs to by completing REO-EC(X1) form, which must be submitted by the Friends of Hong Kong Association Limited.
If you are an NPC deputy or a CPPCC member, and are currently registered as an ex-officio member of the EC as a specified person of a specified subsector, you may choose to:
- remain being registered as a member of the EC in the original subsector. If so, you are not required to re-submit any application form; or
- be registered as an ex-officio member of the EC in the subsector which your newly assumed specified office belongs to by completing REO-EC(X1) form, which must be submitted by the Friends of Hong Kong Association Limited. In the meantime, you may designate another person to be registered as the ex-officio member of the EC for your relevant specified office in the original subsector by submitting REO-EC(X3) form to the Electoral Registration Officer (if applicable).

For details on the registration of specified persons as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee, please refer to Q4.

For details on designating another person as an ex-officio member by a holder of specified office, please refer to Q9.

A13: If you newly become a holder of a specified office, and are currently a registered ex-officio member in the capacity of another specified officer, you may choose

to remain being a member of the EC in the original subsector. If so, you are not required to re-submit any application form. In the meantime, you may designate another person to be registered as the ex-officio member of the EC in the subsector which your newly assumed specified office belongs to by submitting REO-EC(X3) form to the Electoral Registration Officer (if applicable); or
to be registered as an ex-officio member of the EC in the capacity of your newly assumed specified office by submitting REO-EC(X2) form. In the meantime, you may designate another person to be registered as the ex-officio member of the EC for your relevant specified office in the original subsector by submitting REO-EC(X3) form to the Electoral Registration Officer (if applicable).

For details on the registration of specified persons as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee, please refer to Q4.

For details on designating another person as an ex-officio member by a holder of specified office, please refer to Q9.

A14: No. Pursuant to section 5J(3) of the Schedule to the Chief Executive Election Ordinance (Cap. 569), a specified person holding a specified office of an applicable subsector (Note) may designate another person who is holding an office in a relevant body in relation to the specified office to be registered as an ex-officio member if —

the specified person is not eligible to be registered as an ex-officio member under section 5L; or
the specified person is a holder of more than one specified office (excluding the office of NPC deputy or CPPCC member).

You may choose

to remain being registered as a member of the EC in the original subsector. If so, you are not required to re-submit any registration form; or
to submit REO-EC(X2) form to be registered as an ex-officio member of the EC in the subsector which your newly assumed specified office belongs to. Please note that if you are registered as an ex-officio member, you are deemed to have resigned from the membership of the EC in the subsector you have previously registered.

For details on the registration of specified persons as an ex-officio member of the Election Committee, please refer to Q4.

Note: Applicable subsector means the architectural, surveying, planning and landscape subsector, the engineering subsector, the medical and health services subsector or the social welfare subsector.

Q15: Are there any safeguards against possible abuse of my personal data?

A15: All information provided by member of Election Committee will only be used for voter registration and election related purposes. The Registration and Electoral Office has adopted every possible means to ensure that your data will not be misused. Under the law, from 1^st May 2022 onwards, registers of members of the Election Committee that are published for inspection by specified persons contain only the first Chinese character (if the person’s name is recorded in Chinese) or the first word (if the person’s name is recorded in English) of member’s name and his/her registered residential address. Using any information on a register for a purpose other than a purpose related to an election commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 2 and to imprisonment for 6 months.

Q16: Will I receive any reply from the Registration and Electoral Office after submission of an application form?

A16: The Registration and Electoral Office will normally respond within 14 days after receiving your application for registration. If you have not received any reply 14 days after submission of your application form, please call the Registration and Electoral Office hotline at 2891 1001.

Q17: How should I approach for help if I have more questions?

A17: You are welcome to call the Registration and Electoral Office hotline at 2891 1001 or email to reoenq@reo.gov.hk for all enquiries.