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Members of the public can now call the election hotline 187 8877 to obtain information on the List Voting System which will be used for the geographical constituency election in the coming Legislative Council Election.

The new interactive phone system, which launches today (Saturday), consists of three languages and will carry on until the election day on May 24.

A Government spokesman said, "As the first Legislative Council Election of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) draws near, there is a growing interest on how the List Voting System works.

"To ensure openness and fairness of the first HKSAR LegCo Election, the Government has set up the interactive telephone hotline through which the public can easily access to the free phone service telling them what the List Voting System is before they cast their vote."

The phone message, which lasts about two and a half minutes, would be conducted in English, Cantonese and Putonghua. Callers may simply press the button to listen to the language of their choice, that is, press "1" for information on Cantonese, press "2" for English and "3" for Putonghua.

If callers have further questions on the Legislative Council Election, they may call the election hotline on 2588 1212. The telephone is manned by the staff members of the Registration and Electoral Office.

The following is the full script of the information hotline on the List Voting System.

"Information Hotline on List Voting System"

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Welcome to the Information Hotline on the List Voting System. Please press "2" if you want to listen to the message in English.

In the first Legislative Council Election of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region to be held on 24 May, the List Voting System will be used to return 20 Legislative Council members from five geographical constituencies -- four in Hong Kong Island, three each in Kowloon East and Kowloon West, and five each in New Territories East and New Territories West.

The List Voting System is a form of proportional representation voting system used in many countries, and is widely accepted as open and fair. Under this system, candidates contest the election in the form of lists and have to rank themselves in order of priority. Each list can consist of any number of candidates from one to five, depending on the number of seats in the relevant constituency. For example, in a geographical constituency with five seats, a list may have as many as five candidates.

Voting is simple and easy. An elector simply chooses one of the lists of candidates printed on the ballot paper and marks a tick inside the circle next to that list. Remember, a voter should not mark more than one tick on the ballot paper.

When the votes are counted, seats will be allocated on the basis of the number of votes received by each list according to the Largest Remainder Formula. In a five-seat constituency, a list will get a seat if it obtains one-fifth of the votes, and two seats if it obtains two-fifths of the votes, and so on. Likewise, in a four-seat constituency, a list will get one seat if it obtains one-fourth of the votes, and so on. Any remaining seats will be allocated to the lists with the largest number of remaining votes.

Every vote counts under the List Voting System. So, please vote on 24 May. Remember, all you have to do is to mark the ballot paper with one tick in the circle opposite the list of candidates of your choice.

"Your tick makes the election tick. Please vote on 24 May."

If you have any further enquiries on the coming election, please call the election hotline on 2588 1212.

End/Saturday, May 2, 1998

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