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The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
The Legislative Council election will be held on September 7 when 60 members will be returned, 30 by geographical constituencies and 30 by functional constituencies.
Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission Mr Justice Pang Kin-kee today (July 10) called for nominations for the election. The nomination period will run from July 19 to August 1.
"A candidate must be a registered geographical constituency elector aged 21 or above and have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the three years immediately before the nomination. He should also meet the relevant requirements for running in the geographical constituency or functional constituency election," he said.
Each list of candidates for the geographical constituency election must be subscribed by 100 registered electors of the constituency concerned and pay an election deposit of $50,000.
For the functional constituency election, each nominee must be subscribed by 10 registered electors of the respective constituency and pay $25,000 as an election deposit.
Nomination forms are available from District Offices, the respective Returning Officers' offices, or the Registration and Electoral Office at 10/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. They can also be downloaded at the election website (www.elections.gov.hk).
Mr Pang urged the 3.37 million geographical constituency electors and some 230,000 functional constituency electors to vote on September 7.
About 530 polling stations across Hong Kong will be open from 7.30am to 10.30pm on the polling day.
A poll card and a location map will be mailed to each elector about 10 days before the polling day. The location map will indicate whether a polling station is accessible to electors with disabilities. A disabled elector who finds it difficult to access the designated polling station can apply for re-allocation to another polling station on or before September 2.
A geographical constituency elector should use the chop provided to stamp on the ballot paper with a "tick" in the circle corresponding to the list of candidates of his choice, and fold the ballot paper inward in half before putting it into the blue ballot box.
Ballot papers for functional constituencies should be put into the red ballot box, face down without being folded.
Mr Pang reminded electors about the importance of safeguarding the secrecy of votes.
"Electors should mark the ballot papers by themselves. An elector in need may ask the Presiding Officer or his deputy to mark the ballot paper on his behalf, in the presence of a polling officer as witness," he said.
After the polls close, most polling stations will be turned into counting stations for counting geographical constituency votes. Functional constituencies votes will be delivered to the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kowloon Bay for central counting.
Election results for all of the 60 seats will be announced at the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre.
The commission today released the Guidelines on Election-related Activities in respect of the Legislative Council Election.
Mr Pang urged all candidates to familiarise themselves with the guidelines before conducting electioneering activities.
"The guidelines released today were updated by the commission after taking into consideration the representations received during a 30-day public consultation exercise ended in late April," he said.
The guidelines can be obtained from District Offices or the Registration and Electoral Office at 10/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. The guidelines and information about the election are available at www.elections.gov.hk. Enquiries can be made to the hotline, 2891 1001.
Ends/Thursday, July 10, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:25
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