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The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
The Chairman of the Election Affairs Commission, Mr Justice Pang Kin-kee, declared the end of the polls for the Election Committee Subsector Elections at noon today (December 11), with 427 members returned.
It took about 10 hours to sort and count 56,152 ballot papers of the 23 contested subsectors, which represented a voter turnout rate of 27.4%.
There were about 23,300 more voters (or 70% higher) when compared with the figures for the Election Committee Subsector Elections in 2000.
Mr Justice Pang said that the time taken for the count was more or less as what he had estimated openly a few days ago.
"I consider the counting of votes efficient and I am satisfied with the overall electoral arrangements," he said.
On behalf of the commission, Mr Justice Pang thanked the polling and counting staff, the Registration and Electoral Office, and other government departments involved for the smooth electoral arrangements. He also thanked voters, candidates, and agents for their support and co-operation in bringing about fair, open and honest polls for the elections.
He thanked the media for providing extensive coverage of the polls.
He said the interim register of the members of the new term Election Committee would be published in a few days. According to the law, the final register will take effect on February 1, 2007.
The commission will review the electoral arrangements and compile a report for the Chief Executive.
Ends/Monday, December 11, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:58
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