The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
 
     The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, briefed candidates of the 2016 Election Committee (EC) Subsector Ordinary Elections on important points to note when conducting electioneering activities at a briefing session today (November 17).

     "The EC Subsector Ordinary Elections will be held on December 11. A total of 1 539 valid nomination forms were received by Returning Officers during the nomination period that ended on November 14. Polls will not be held for 13 subsectors/sub-subsector, as the number of validly nominated candidates in each subsector/sub-subsector does not exceed the number of EC members allocated. Polls will be conducted for 25 subsectors/sub-subsectors in which there are contested elections," Mr Justice Fung said at the briefing.

     Mr Justice Fung briefed candidates on the arrangements for polling and counting of votes in the elections.

     Voters were reminded to use the black pen provided by the polling station to shade the oval next to the name of each chosen candidate on the ballot paper when voting. They should vote for no more than the prescribed number of seats in the relevant subsector/sub-subsector.
 
     "Because of the considerable number of candidates, it is in principle alright for voters to bring along a piece of paper listing the names or numbers of the candidates of their choice for easy reference when marking the ballot papers.  Nevertheless, voters should not show the paper to other people inside the polling station and they should take the paper with them when leaving the polling station. Otherwise, the voters concerned may violate the law," he said.
 
     "To ensure that voters understand the proper voting procedure, the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) will send a guide to the voting procedure to voters along with the poll card at least five days before the polling day," he added.
 
     Once the poll is closed, ballot boxes of the ordinary polling stations and the dedicated polling stations will be delivered to the central counting station at AsiaWorld-Expo where counting of votes will take place. 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 December 11 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 purposes.
 
     Mr Justice Fung also urged candidates to conserve the environment and save paper. "Candidates should respect voters' wishes to conserve the environment and send only electronic election advertisements, instead of paper advertisements, to voters who have provided their email addresses," he said.
 
     One more briefing session for candidates of the EC Subsector Ordinary Elections will be held in the evening tomorrow. Before each briefing session, the Returning Officers of contested subsectors/sub-subsectors determine by drawing of lots the order of the names of candidates of their respective subsectors/sub-subsectors on ballot papers and the allocation of designated spots for election advertisements.

     Information on the nominees and the elections is available on the election website (www.elections.gov.hk).

Ends/Thursday, November 17, 2016
Issued at HKT 21:54

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