The Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election has kept in close touch with the city’s health authorities in order to communicate on epidemic-control measures for election day, and those for other electoral events.

Speaking to reporters after today’s session, the Commission Chairman, Mr Tong Hio Fong, said the Commission had additionally met recently with officials from a number of public departments, in order to exchange views on various electoral-arrangements issues.

The COVID-19 pandemic had generated great uncertainty regarding arrangements for the election, Mr Tong said. If conditions stayed as they are in Macao, the Commission might persist with existing epidemic-control measures in relation to public spaces – i.e., a body-temperature check on arrival, and use of a face mask, for each person either visiting a polling station or attending a campaigning event. It would also be necessary to provide at polling stations sanitising materials for use by those present.

Epidemic-control measures for the election would be updated in a timely way, in response to any developments in Macao in relation to the disease, said Mr Tong.

The Commission had previously met with representatives of, respectively, the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC), the Printing Bureau, the Environmental Protection Bureau, the Transport Bureau, the Public Security Police Force, and the Judiciary Police, in order to exchange views on a number of issues in relation to electoral arrangements.

Topics discussed had included: steps for detection of election fraud, and for lodging complaints; choice of paper for printing ballots; and noise in relation to use of vehicles for campaigning.

The Commission projected spending for this year’s election would be about 50.8 million patacas, a cut of 8.5 percent compared to the 2017 poll. In order to act in line with the Government’s initiative for streamlining public spending, the Commission would use some equipment and facilities from the 2017 poll, and cut any electoral events deemed surplus to requirements.

The exact amount for the election budget had to be finalised via an Executive Order, Mr Tong added.

Mr Tong issued a reminder that voters must provide to the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau, on or before 31 May, any updated information regarding a change of residential address, as each voter would be assigned a polling station based on the address held on file. Voters could submit an address update either via the Bureau’s service counters at a relevant location, or via the registration website for voters.