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The Government gazetted the nomination period for the Village Representative By-election today (April 5).
Thirteen Village Representative vacancies will be open for nominations from April 11 until April 24.
The by-election will cover seven Resident Representatives for seven Existing Villages, namely Sham Shek, Shung Him Tong (East), See Cheung Street, Tung Lo Wan, Tin Liu Ha, Kei Lun Wai and Kong Tau. The by-election will also cover six Indigenous Inhabitant Representatives for six Indigenous Villages, namely Ma Wan Chung, Tai Po, Kau Tam Tso, Tin Ha Wan, Kwan Mun Hau and Ting Kau.
To be eligible for an Indigenous Inhabitant Representative By-election, a candidate must be an indigenous inhabitant as well as an elector of the Indigenous Village and ordinarily reside in Hong Kong.
For a Resident Representative By-election, a candidate must be a resident of the Existing Village and have been a resident of the village for six years immediately preceding the nomination. His or her principal residential address must be in the village and "principal residential address" means the address of the dwelling place at which the candidate resides, which should constitute his or her sole or main home. The candidate must also be an elector of the village.
All candidates of both categories must be permanent Hong Kong residents aged 21 or above and each candidate must be nominated by at least five electors from his or her village. Each elector may nominate only one candidate. No one can stand as a candidate in more than one village.
Nomination forms will be available at the Public Enquiry Service Centres of the New Territories District Offices, the Home Affairs Department (HAD) and the Village Representative Election website (www.had.gov.hk/vre).
Nomination forms must be submitted in person to the Returning Officer, that is, the District Officer of the respective village, by 5pm on April 24.
A spokesman for the HAD said that if there was more than one validly nominated candidate for the same village, a poll would be held for that village on May 26 (Sunday). Eligible voters will receive a polling notice which specifies the date, time and place of the poll.
For enquiries, please call 2152 1521.
Ends/Friday, April 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 10:01
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