CAEAL justifies prohibition of photos of candidate lists over data protection concerns

The Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election (CAEAL) has justified the prohibition of photographing the candidates’ lists publicly displayed in the lobby of the Public Administration Building, citing concerns over personal data.

Seng Ioi Man, president of CAEAL, shared this information during yesterday’s CAEAL media briefing in response to the Times’ inquiry.

“The lists contain information about the trustees and candidates, and the identification data of these individuals and their addresses are required. All this information must be posted. Therefore, CAEAL has verified that this information contains a lot of personal data about these people, so to protect this data, it has been decided not to allow taking photos,” Seng said.

When asked by the media which law or article supports enforcing this decision, Seng declined to provide details, stating only, “As I mentioned, our goal is to safeguard the protection of people’s personal data with a prudent examination and guarantee the public’s right to information, so this decision is meant to protect the right to privacy and other individual rights.”

The issue arose after security staff stopped several journalists, including the Times, from taking photos of the lists displayed in the lobby.

After the briefing, escorted by Government Information Bureau staff, media representatives were finally allowed to take photos in the lobby.

However, pictures had to be taken from a distance so as not to capture any specific details of the candidates’ lists.

Upon an on-site inspection, the Times found that, besides the names and photographs of the list candidates, the only potentially sensitive data present on the lists was their identity card number. Contrary to Seng’s statement, the addresses posted are not home addresses of the candidates but rather the addresses of the associations or group offices they represent, with the same address used for all candidates on a list.

Earlier, in response to multiple media questions on the matter, Seng said the prohibition was not intended to prevent the public from seeing or examining the lists but to prevent personal details from being leaked online.

Seng noted that CAEAL is currently verifying the candidacies to ensure their legality and eligibility at this stage of the election process.

He also stated that CAEAL has submitted documentation from the different lists to the State Security Commission of the Macau SAR (CDSE), which will verify candidates’ eligibility in terms of their support for the Macau Basic Law and loyalty to the People’s Republic of China.

According to Seng, the CDSE will notify CAEAL of any irregularities, issue a report, and decide on candidates’ eligibility. This decision is final, with no entitlement to appeal.

After this and until July 15, CAEAL will publish the final lists.

When asked about the criteria CDSE will use to evaluate candidates’ eligibility, Seng declined to disclose information, stating that this is within CDSE’s jurisdiction and that CAEAL’s role is only to enforce CDSE’s decisions.

Additionally, when questioned whether CAEAL will publish any reports from CDSE, Seng did not provide a clear answer, saying only that the process will be conducted according to electoral law.

Ballot paper thickness and rubber stamp

During yesterday’s CAEAL meeting, several topics related to voting procedures were discussed. Seng noted that CAEAL has decided to increase the thickness of ballot paper to better ensure voting privacy.

The system of marking votes with a provided rubber stamp will continue. Seng said CAEAL has decided to increase spacing between lists on the ballot so that stamping is more precise, helping prevent null ballots.

Special ballot papers in Braille and with additional guides will also be provided for visually impaired voters so they can vote independently without a companion.

About 70% of legal entities’ voter lists received

Regarding voter lists for legal entities, Seng said CAEAL has received the names of 781 people with active electoral capacity, accounting for about 70% of legal entities with such capacity. The deadline for submitting this documentation is July 7.