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Electors should reply to letters issued by Registration and Electoral Office before specified deadline
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     The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) appealed today (February 5) to registered electors who received inquiry letters issued by the Office to reply as soon as possible by the statutory deadline of May 2 this year via post, fax or email in accordance with the letter's instructions, so as to maintain their voter registration (VR) status and so that they can vote at the Legislative Council General Election (LCGE) to be held in the third quarter of this year and at subsequent public elections.
 
     To enhance the accuracy and completeness of the information in the registers of electors, from today until April the REO will issue inquiry letters in accordance with the relevant electoral laws to about 90 000 electors asking them to confirm or update their registered addresses.
 
     "A prominent message, 'Immediate action required. Your voting right is at stake', is printed on the envelopes of all inquiry letters to remind the electors that the letters are important and should be opened and replied to as soon as possible. Electors who received an inquiry letter should reply to the REO on or before May 2 to confirm or update their registered addresses," the spokesman for the REO said.
 
      "If the REO does not receive a valid reply from an elector under inquiry, the name of the elector will be included in the omissions list to be published on or before June 1. Electors included in the omissions list have to reply to the reminding letter separately issued by the REO to the elector concerned or lodge a claim before the statutory deadline of June 25, 2020, as well as obtain the approval of the Revising Officer before they can maintain their VR status, be included in the final register of electors to be published in July 2020, and be able to vote at the LCGE to be held in the third quarter of this year.” 
 
     The aforesaid statutory inquiry procedure forms a critical part of the series of checking measures conducted by the REO in each VR cycle and aims to enhance the accuracy and completeness of the information on VR.
 
     In addition, as part of the regular checking measures conducted in each VR cycle, the REO issued enquiry letters on December 13, 2019, to about 70 000 electors selected through random sampling, with the original deadline of reply as specified on the letter falling on January 31, 2020. In view of the temporary suspension of postal services of Hongkong Post from January 29 to February 2, 2020, due to the situation arising from the novel coronavirus, the REO has extended the reply deadline of the enquiry letters concerned to February 14, 2020. The REO advised that electors who received the enquiry letters may also submit their replies through email or fax apart from doing so by post.
 
     Electors who have enquiries on the letters received from the REO may call the REO hotline at 2891 1001. Meanwhile, the frequently asked questions on checking measures of VR have also been uploaded to the homepage of the REO (www.reo.gov.hk).
 
Ends/Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Issued at HKT 17:27
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