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The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
Notices of the 2010 Legislative Council (LegCo) by-election, and Notices for the appointment of Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers, with their office addresses, have been published in the Gazette today (March 5).
"The nomination period for the LegCo by-election will run from March 22 to April 8," a spokesman for the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) said.
There is one vacant office in each of the five geographical constituencies of the LegCo - Hong Kong Island, Kowloon West, Kowloon East, New Territories West and New Territories East. In respect of each geographical constituency, if there is more than one validly nominated candidate, a poll will be held on Sunday, May 16.
"To run for a seat, a nominee must be a registered geographical constituency elector aged 21 or above. The nominee must also have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the three years immediately before the nomination, and be a Chinese citizen who is a Hong Kong permanent resident with no right of abode in a foreign country.
"The nominee must be subscribed by 100 registered electors of the constituency concerned and hand in the completed nomination form, together with an election deposit of $50,000, in person to the Returning Officer within the nomination period," the spokesman said.
Apart from general holidays, nominations are accepted from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Friday and from 9am to noon on Saturday.
The EAC has appointed the Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers for the five geographical constituencies. They will deal with the nominations and other electoral duties for the constituency under their charge.
Nomination forms are available from District Offices or the Registration and Electoral Office at 10/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. They can also be downloaded from the EAC website at www.eac.gov.hk .
Enquiries about the by-election can be made to the election hotline on 2891 1001.
Ends/Friday, March 5, 2010
Issued at HKT 11:01
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