Integrity intact: Electoral Affairs Commission Chairman Justice Woo Kwok-hing said the commission's final report concludes the September 12 Legislative Council polls' integrity was not damaged despite some problems and confusion.

Four members have been appointed to an Independent Committee of Experts to review election management, planning and conduct,  and to make recommendations for improvement measures, Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa announced.

Dr Daniel Tse, President Emeritus of Hong Kong Baptist University, will chair the committee. Cathay Pacific Airways Limited's Director and Chief Operating Officer Philip Chen, MTR Corporation Information Technology Head Daniel Lai and former Law Society of Hong Kong President Herbert Tsoi, a partner in the firm that carries his name, are the other committee members.

The four between them have expertise in management and logistics, information technology and legal fields.

Mr Tung expects the committee to start work in early January and take about three months to complete its work and submit a report.

"During the review, the committee will invite views and comments from parties concerned. The committee's report will also be made public," Mr Tung said.

In a statement, Mr Tse said the committee will carry out its task independently, objectively and thoroughly.

"The system of fair, open and honest election is a most important feature of Hong Kong society. Hopefully, this review, and the findings and recommendations which we will be making, will help improve the practical arrangements for future elections in Hong Kong," he said. 

Final report on 2004 LegCo elections made public

These appointments came on the day the Electoral Affairs Commission released to the public its final report on the 2004 Legislative Council election, held on September 12.

"The findings of the final report affirm that the integrity of the election has not been affected," Mr Tung said.

The report describes how the commission conducted and supervised the 2004 LegCo election, gives an updated report on the findings of the uncompleted cases and outstanding issues mentioned in the interim report, and sets out EAC's recommendations for improvement measures for future elections.

EAC Chairman Justice Woo Kwok-hing explained the report at a press briefing this afternoon. He noted that the LegCo election "gave rise to a number of controversies" and he recognised there were problems on election day - "but the integrity of the election was not damaged".

"More than 1.78 million people cast their vote, in an open, fair and honest manner. This was an all-time high, an important milestone in the development of elections in Hong Kong," he said.

"With regard to the inconvenience and confusion, we express our deepest regret and extend our sincere apologies."

IVRS failure triggered five-hour delay

One of the chief difficulties with the election was the failure of the Interactive Voice Response System designed to report cumulative hourly voter turnout figures from all 501 polling stations.

A shortfall in the IVRS' design left it with insufficient capacity to handle the calls from so many stations at once, so some incoming calls were disconnected before their reports were completed. In the end, much of the data input had to be done manually. It took five hours to ensure the final results were accurate.

"Tests were conducted ahead of time, but simulation tests proved to be insufficient. There were no contingency plans to deal with the possible failure of the software system," Justice Woo said.

"We are now seeking legal advice to see if we can seek compensation from the company."

The commission also recommends setting up an information technology unit to provide assistance to the REO and to give input regarding the systems to be developed for voting or counting arrangements.

Contingency planning, advance testing key to successful polls

Having contingency plans in place for any emergency is also on its list of suggestions for improvement.

Justice Woo deflected much of the blame for the day's "hiccups" to the REO. The commission took the office's word for it when they were told the new ballot boxes, designed to accept the new A3-size ballots folded in half, could hold more than 1,000 ballots.

In reality, they found after the elections that they could hold only about 400. This prompted a serious shortage of ballot boxes on the day, and triggered a flood of complaints about such practices as inserting rulers into the boxes to try to push the ballots down, or shaking the boxes to try to make room for more.

The report recommends setting up five regional centres and 18 district centres with a depot for extra ballot boxes, furniture and other supplies so that the far-flung polling stations will not have to seek support from a single centre.

These centres could have extra staff, also, to be deployed to polling stations as required. Justice Woo noted that many people who manned the polling and counting stations wound up working more than 24 hours around the clock. "That was unrealistic," he said. "We will change that."

No plans to step down

When asked by reporters whether he had plans to resign, Justice Woo was adamant that he did not.

"We have identified the mistakes, we have accepted the mistakes as being part of our responsibility as a commission, we are trying to find ways to make sure these mistakes don't happen again," he said.

"It's easy to step down. I don't receive any pay. I spend my time. It's a tough task. It's not very interesting or fun."

He also repeated that the three commission members - himself, Norman Leung and Elizabeth Shing - had been making arrangements for electoral affairs for some time, and "no one is more experienced than we are".

He added: "Quitting is easy. If you think the elections were not fair, honest and open, show us the evidence."

Role of the Independent Experts Committee welcomed

The report said the EAC is looking forward to working with the Independent Experts Committee.

The committee will review the commission's reports and collect other relevant information regarding the arrangements for the 2004 LegCo election. They will then advise on how:

* the Registration & Electoral Office may better support the EAC in carrying out its statutory functions in the conduct and supervision of elections;

* the REO may better perform its functions in relation to the management, planning and conduct of elections; and

* the communication system and other arrangements for the counting of votes and for the reporting, compilation and announcement of polling and counting figures and other relevant matters can be improved.