About 34,000 election staff were appointed for last year’s Legislative Council General Election, involving total expenditure of about HK$236 million, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Janice Tse Siu-wa said on Wednesday.
Most of them were serving civil servants, while about 400 were retired civil servants, Tse added.
Election Committee lawmaker Ginny Man Wing-yee raised concerns over whether compensatory leave could be used to replace additional remuneration for civil servants taking part in election work.
Tse said civil servants are the main source of election staff relied upon by the Electoral Affairs Commission, and that election duties are additional responsibilities outside their regular work.
She said providing remuneration would help recruit enough suitable and experienced civil servants, thereby ensuring the quality of election work.
Election Committee lawmaker Andrew Fan Chun-wah asked whether some election work could be replaced by technology.
Tse said the government would keep track of developments in technology and artificial intelligence in the market, and introduce new technology where appropriate.
