New polling arrangements for LegCo by-election announced

The Returning Officer for the Legislative Council by-election (Election Committee) has ruled all the three nominations for candidature valid.

The order of the candidates' names to be printed on ballot papers, as determined by the drawing of lots today (August 18), is: Dr Chan Man-hung (Number 1), Mr Ho Sai-chu (Number 2) and Mr Ma Fung-kwok (Number 3). They will compete for one Legislative Council seat in the by-election on Sunday, September 16.

At a briefing for the candidates and their agents, the Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing, urged them to co-operate with the Commission and relevant authorities to make the by-election fair, open and honest.

Though some of the candidates may be experienced in conducting election campaigns, they should acquaint themselves with our Guidelines on Election-related activities, the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance and the Legislative Council Ordinance. Strictly observe the rules so you won't break the law inadvertently," he said.

Mr Justice Woo also announced some changes to the polling and counting arrangements, which were made after taking into account the views of Election Committee members received in the past month.

One polling station will be set up adjacent to the counting station in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. Polling will be conducted for 12 hours from 7.30 am to 7.30 pm on September 16.

Explaining the advantages of the new arrangements, he said: "We can spare the trouble of delivering ballot boxes from several polling stations to a central counting station. The count can start immediately after polling closes."

Closing the poll earlier in the evening means that the count can start and finish earlier. Candidates, electors and members of the public could learn of the election results well before they finish off the day," Mr Justice Woo said.

All of the written submissions from Election Committee members supported our new arrangements in general, though some members expressed their wish to maintain the traditional practice of starting the poll at 7.30 am, rather than at 9 am as proposed. We want to make it as convenient as possible for every elector to vote, that's why we decide to start the poll at 7.30 am as usual to cater for the early birds," he said.

The count will be conducted manually given that only one Legislative Council member is to be returned. Electors must use a pen provided inside a polling booth to shade the oval on the left hand side of the name of the candidate of their choice on a ballot paper.

In the general election last September, where elections for geographical constituencies, functional constituencies and the Election Committee were held concurrently, Election Committee members were able to cast all their votes at any one of the four polling stations from 7.30 am to 10.30 pm. Optical mark readers were used to count Election Committee ballot papers, on which electors had to mark exactly six choices of candidates.

The Electoral Affairs Commission has set up a complaints hotline, 2827 7251, to handle complaints from members of the public about possible breaches of its Guidelines on Election-related Activities.

Members of the public may call the election hotline, 2891 1001, to enquire about arrangements for the by-election and may visit the website, www.reo.gov.hk, to obtain more information.

End/Saturday, August 18, 2001