Legislative Council Election candidates briefed on electoral guidelines and legislation (with photo)
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The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, briefed candidates of the 2016 Legislative Council General Election on important points to note when conducting electioneering activities at a briefing session today (August 2)
During the briefing session, some participants shouted and stormed the stage, causing chaos and seriously disrupting the order of the event. The briefing had to end prematurely to facilitate the drawing of lots by Returning Officers to determine the order of candidates on ballot papers. The EAC expressed deep regret and strongly condemned the violent acts of those people.
The purpose of the session is to brief the candidates on important parts of the electoral guidelines to ensure that the election will be conducted in an open, fair and honest manner. It is a solemn event. While the EAC respects the freedom of expression, participants of the briefing are expected to observe the rules of the venue and not to cause nuisance to the participants and obstruct the conduct of the briefing.
“The 2016 Legislative Council General Election will be held on September 4. A total of 154 nomination forms were received by Returning Officers during the nomination period ended on July 29. One nomination form was withdrawn and five nomination forms were ruled invalid. In addition, one nominee each from two nomination forms were ruled invalid. The number of valid nomination forms is 148,” said Mr Justice Fung at the briefing.
Mr Justice Fung briefed candidates on the arrangements for polling and counting of votes in the election.
“As in previous Legislative Council General Elections, eligible voters may cast all their votes entitled at the same polling station,” he said.
The geographical constituency (GC) and District Council (second) functional constituency ballot papers will be pre-folded inward once along the dotted line by the polling staff at the ballot paper issuing desk before issuing them to electors. Electors must use the chop provided by the polling stations to stamp the ballot paper with a 'tick' in the circle opposite the name of the chosen candidate list, and fold the ballot paper inward once along the dotted line to conceal the mark and then put it into the ballot box.
The back of the two ballot papers will be distinguished by patterns in different colours. The patterns on the back of the GC ballot paper will be blue while the back of the District Council (second) functional constituency ballot paper will be mainly white in colour, which correspond to the blue ballot box for GCs and the white ballot box for the District Council (second) functional constituency. The ballot papers of the traditional FCs should be put into the red ballot box.
"To ensure that electors understand the proper voting procedure, the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) will prepare a guide to the voting procedure which will be sent to every elector along with the poll card," he said.
Once the poll is closed, most polling stations will be converted into counting stations for counting GC votes. Ballot boxes of all FCs, including the District Council (second) functional constituency, will be delivered to the central counting station at the AsiaWorld-Expo where counting of votes will take place.
"It is expected that counting of the votes for GCs can only start at about 11pm at the earliest, and may finish at late night. As for the counting of votes at the central counting station, counting will begin after the ballot boxes delivered from the polling stations are received. The whole counting process at the central counting station is expected to finish at around noon the next day at the earliest," said Mr Justice Fung.
“All election results will be announced at the media centre of the central counting station. An area has been reserved for members of the public to watch the announcement of results at the media centre. In view of the limited seating capacity, admission from 11pm on September 4 will be arranged on a first come, first served basis. Members of the public admitted to the venue will be required to wear a wristband provided by the REO for identification purpose,” he continued.
After the briefing session, the Returning Officers determined the order on ballot papers of the lists of candidates or candidates for their respective constituencies and the allocation of designated spots for display of election advertisements by drawing of lots.
Information on the nominees and the election, and the full Chinese speech of Mr Justice Fung are available on the election website (www.elections.gov.hk). Candidates may call the election hotline 2891 1001 if they have any enquiry on the electoral arrangements.
Ends/Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Issued at HKT 23:30
Issued at HKT 23:30
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