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The Government gazetted the nomination period for the Rural By-election today (October 16). Seven Rural Representative vacancies will be open for nominations from October 27 to November 9.
The by-election will return one Resident Representative for each of the three Existing Villages, namely Sha Lo Wan, Tai No and Ping Chau Sha Tau. The by-election will also return four Indigenous Inhabitant Representatives for three Indigenous Villages, namely Po Toi, Shek Kiu Tau and Ping Yeung. There are two Indigenous Inhabitant Representative vacancies for Ping Yeung.
To be eligible for an Indigenous Inhabitant Representative By-election, a candidate must be an indigenous inhabitant as well as a registered 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 must have been a resident of the Village for the 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 and which constitutes his or her sole or main home. The candidate must also be a registered 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 registered electors from his or her Village. The number of candidates each elector may nominate is no more than the number of Rural Representatives to be returned for that Village. No one can stand as a candidate in more than one Village.
Nomination forms are available at the Public Enquiry Service Centres of the New Territories District Offices, the Home Affairs Department (HAD) and the Rural Representative Election website (www.had.gov.hk/rre). Nomination forms must be submitted in person to the Returning Officer of the respective Village by 5pm on November 9.
A spokesman for the HAD said that if the number of validly nominated candidates exceeded that of the Rural Representative vacancies to be filled in that Indigenous Village or Existing Village, a poll would be held for that Village on December 6 (Sunday). Eligible electors will receive a polling notice which specifies the date, time and place of the poll.
For enquiries, please call 2152 1521.
Ends/Friday, October 16, 2015
Issued at HKT 11:31
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