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178 electors (2.36%) voted in the first hour of the Tsuen Wan District Council Fuk Loi Constituency by-election which opened at 7.30am today (July 24). (The voter turnout figures are only for temporary reference.)
A polling station is open until 10.30pm today for 7,554 registered electors in the constituency to cast their votes. It is located at the Holy Cross Lutheran School, 31 Lo Tak Court, Tsuen Wan.
A dedicated polling station is set up at the Hong Kong Police Lei Muk Shue Operational Base, 302 Wo Yi Hop Road, Kwai Chung for electors in the Fuk Loi Constituency who are remanded or detained by law enforcement agencies other than the Correctional Services Department (CSD) to cast their votes. The polling hours are from 7.30am to 10.30pm.
For electors in the constituency who are imprisoned or remanded in the CSD's custody, they can cast their ballots at nine dedicated polling stations set up in their respective penal institutions. For security reasons, the polling hours are from 9am to 4pm.
The Electoral Affairs Commission Chairman Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah and members Mr Lawrence Lok Ying-kam, SC, and Professor Andrew Chan Chi-fai, will inspect the polling stations this morning.
"Electors are advised to cast their votes as early as possible. Voting is very simple and it takes just a few minutes," a spokesman for the Registration and Electoral Office said.
"All electors need to do is to take their identity document to the polling station, use the chop provided to stamp the ballot paper with a 'tick' in the circle opposite the name of the chosen candidate, and fold the ballot paper inward in half before putting it into the ballot box," he said.
The polling station at the Holy Cross Lutheran School will be turned into a counting station once the poll is closed. People are welcome to observe the counting of votes within the designated area in the counting station.
To protect the secrecy of votes, ballot boxes of the dedicated polling stations will be delivered to the main counting station at the Holy Cross Lutheran School for opening after the close of poll. The ballot papers concerned will be mixed with the ballot papers cast at the main counting station before counting.
Election results will be announced by the Returning Officer at the counting station at the Holy Cross Lutheran School.
An election hotline, 2891 1001, will be in service until 11pm to answer enquiries relating to the by-election.
A complaint hotline, 2827 7251, will also operate until 10.30pm to handle complaints about breaches of electoral rules and guidelines.
The two candidates contesting the by-election are Kot Siu-yuen (No. 1), and Mui Yee-ling (No. 2).
Ends/Sunday, July 24, 2011
Issued at HKT 08:51
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