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The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
The counting of votes for the 2008 Legislative Council election was completed smoothly today (September 8).
It took about nine hours to complete the counting of 1,524,249 geographical constituency ballot papers and 127,973 functional constituency ballot papers after the poll closed last night (September 7).
Speaking at the media centre after the announcement of all election results, Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Mr Justice Pang Kin-kee, said, ¡§The election was concluded successfully in an open, honest and fair manner. I consider the counting of votes efficient, and the Commission is satisfied with the overall electoral arrangements.
The Commission will review various electoral arrangements and study how to improve them further. A report will be submitted to the Chief Executive within the next three months.
The Commission thanked the 16,000 polling and counting staff and various Government departments involved in the election, especially the Registration and Electoral Office, for serving electors and candidates as well as helping to make electoral arrangements smooth. The Commission also thanked all electors for voting, and candidates and agents for their co-operation.
Ends/Monday, September 8, 2008
Issued at HKT 09:46
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