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Electors of the Legislative Council New Territories East geographical constituency are urged to vote in the by-election in their constituency tomorrow (February 28).
A total of 146 ordinary polling stations in the New Territories East geographical constituency will open tomorrow for about 940,000 electors listed on the 2015 Final Register to cast their votes. A dedicated polling station will be set up at Tin Sum Police Station and 20 dedicated polling stations will be set up in penal institutions for electors in the New Territories East geographical constituency who are imprisoned or held in custody by law enforcement agencies on polling day to cast their votes.
The polling hours for the ordinary polling stations and the dedicated polling station set up at Tin Sum Police Station will be from 7.30am to 10.30pm. For the dedicated polling stations set up in penal institutions, for security reasons, the polling hours will be from 9am to 4pm.
"Voting is very simple. It just takes a few minutes to vote," a spokesman for the Registration and Electoral Office said today (February 27).
"All electors need to do is to show their identity document at the polling station where they will be issued a ballot paper, use the chop provided to stamp a tick on the ballot paper in the circle opposite the name of the chosen candidate, and fold the ballot paper inward in half along the dotted line as indicated before putting it into the ballot box," he said.
Electors may only cast their votes at the designated polling station as specified on their poll card. Electors can call the election hotline on 2891 1001 if they have not yet received their poll card, or log in to the Online Voter Information Enquiry System (OVIES) (www.voterinfo.gov.hk) to check their designated polling stations.
The spokesman reminded the public that according to the law, polling stations are restricted areas accessible only by electors and authorised people.
"Unauthorised people are strictly prohibited from using mobile phones, taking photographs, filming, and making video or audio recordings in the polling stations," he said.
Once the poll closes, all polling stations, except the four small polling stations and the dedicated polling stations, will become counting stations. All counting stations will be open to the public once the count commences. Members of the public will be able to observe the counting process at designated areas inside the counting stations. A media centre will be set up at Tiu Keng Leng Sports Centre, 2 Chui Ling Road, Tseung Kwan O, where the Returning Officer will announce the by-election results. An area with a seating capacity for about 600 has been reserved for members of the public to watch the announcement of results. Admission from 11pm will be arranged on a first come, first served basis.
Enquiries about the by-election can be made to the election hotline at 2891 1001, which will operate from 7am to 11pm tomorrow.
A complaints hotline, 2827 7251, will also be in service from 7.30am to 11pm tomorrow to handle complaints about breaches of electoral rules and guidelines.
Ends/Saturday, February 27, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:25
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