***********************************************************
159 electors (2.04 per cent) voted in the first hour of the Kwun Tong District Council Ping Shek Constituency by-election which opened at 7.30am today (May 26). (The voter turnout figures are only for temporary reference.)
A polling station will remain open until 10.30pm today for 7 780 registered electors in the constituency to cast their votes. It is located at Ping Shek Estate Catholic Primary School, 10 Clear Water Bay Road, Ping Shek Estate, Kowloon.
A dedicated polling station has been set up at Ngau Tau Kok Police Station, 1 Siu Yip Street, Ngau Tau Kok, for electors in the Ping Shek 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.
Electors in the constituency who are imprisoned or remanded in the CSD's custody can cast their ballots at six dedicated polling stations set up in their respective penal institutions. For security reasons, the polling hours are from 9am to 4pm.
The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, and EAC members Mr Lawrence Lok Ying-kam, SC, and Professor Fanny Cheung Mui-ching, 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 where they will be issued a ballot paper, 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 Ping Shek Estate Catholic Primary 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 at the counting station.
To protect the secrecy of votes, the ballot boxes at the dedicated polling stations will be delivered to the main counting station at Ping Shek Estate Catholic Primary School for opening after the poll closes. The ballot papers concerned will be mixed with the ballot papers cast at the main counting station before counting.
Election results will be declared by the Returning Officer at the counting station at Ping Shek Estate Catholic Primary School.
An election hotline, 2891 1001, is in service until 11pm to answer enquiries relating to the by-election.
A complaints hotline, 2827 7251, is also in operation until 11pm to handle complaints about breaches of electoral rules and guidelines.
The two candidates contesting the by-election are Chan Chun-kit (No. 1) and Leung Kwok-hung (Long hair)(No. 2).
Ends/Sunday, May 26, 2013
Issued at HKT 09:23
NNNN
