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The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Mr Justice Pang Kin-kee, reminded electors to follow proper voting procedures in the Legislative Council election on Sunday (September 7).
"Electors should take their Hong Kong Identity Card to the designated polling station specified on the poll card," Mr Justice Pang said after visiting a mock polling station at the Leighton Hill Community Hall this afternoon (September 3).
The mock polling station at the Leighton Hill Community Hall is one of four open for electors to familiarise themselves with voting procedures. The other three are at Kowloon Park Sports Centre, Tuen Mun Town Hall and Tai Po Community Centre.
The mock polling stations will open from noon to 8pm tomorrow, Friday and Saturday (September 4-6).
On September 7, a total of 532 polling stations across Hong Kong will be open from 7.30am to 10.30pm to more than 3.37 million geographical constituency electors and more than 210,000 electors in the contested functional constituencies to cast their votes.
A total of 142 candidates who belong to 53 lists will run for 30 seats in the geographical constituencies, while 45 candidates will compete for 16 functional constituency seats.
"When voting, a geographical constituency elector should use the chop provided to stamp a ˇĄtickˇ¦ on the ballot paper in the circle of the chosen list of candidates, and fold the ballot paper inward in half before putting it into the blue ballot box," Mr Justice Pang said.
"Ballot papers for functional constituencies should be put into the red ballot box, face down without being folded," he said.
Mr Justice Pang reminded electors about the importance of safeguarding the secrecy of votes.
"Electors should mark the ballot papers by themselves inside a voting compartment. 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.
Electors must not use mobile phones or other electronic communication devices, take photographs, or do video or audio recording inside a polling station.
After the poll close, most polling stations will be turned into counting stations for counting geographical constituency votes. Functional constituency votes will be delivered to the Hongkong International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kowloon Bay for central counting.
People can watch the counting process at designated areas inside the counting stations.
Electors may call the election hotline on 2891 1001 for enquiries.
Ends/Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:49
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