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About 204,000 registered voters in 23 contested subsectors/sub-subsector of the Election Committee (EC) should have received a poll card informing them where to vote on December 10.
Along with the poll card, the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) has also sent each voter an information package containing a map of his designated polling station, a voting guide, and an introduction of the candidates in his subsector/sub-subsector. A leaflet with colourful illustrations on the proper procedures on voting, and another on clean and fair elections are also included.
Voters in the contested subsectors/sub-subsector who have not received the package should call the hotline 2891 1001.
A total of 803 candidates are competing for 427 seats in the following 23 contested subsectors/sub-subsector:
Financial Services
Hotel
Insurance
Real Estate and Construction
Textile and Garment
Tourism
Transport
Wholesale and Retail
Accountancy
Architectural, Surveying and Planning
Chinese Medicine
Education
Engineering
Health Services
Higher Education
Information Technology
Legal
Medical
Labour
Social Welfare
Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication (Culture Sub-subsector)
Hong Kong and Kowloon District Councils
New Territories District Councils
On December 10, 110 polling stations across Hong Kong will be open from 7.30am to 10.30pm.
The number of EC members to be returned in these contested subsectors/sub-subsector range from 10 to 40. A voter should vote for no more than the prescribed number of seats in his subsector/sub-subsector. The ballot papers for different subsectors/sub-subsector will show the number of seats of the corresponding subsectors/sub-subsectors.
Explaining the proper way to fill in a ballot paper, an REO spokesman said the voter should shade the ovals opposite the names of his chosen candidates with the pen provided at the polling station, then put the ballot paper into the envelope provided before dropping it into the ballot box.
"Please do not fold the ballot paper and the envelope," he said.
[Photographs (1), (2), and (3) illustrate these steps in graphic form.]
Five mock polling stations will be open to voters from December 7 to 9 for them to get familiar with the voting procedures. Another mock polling station in the Electoral Information Centre at Guardian House, Wanchai, will remain open until December 8. Details of the mock polling stations are contained in the above-mentioned leaflet as part of the information packages already sent to voters.
Polls are not required in 15 subsectors/sub-subsectors in which 237 candidates have already been elected uncontested. More than 15,000 registered voters in these subsectors/sub-subsectors will receive a notice of uncontested election.
Ends/Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Issued at HKT 21:46
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