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The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, called on registered electors of the New Territories East geographical constituency to cast their votes in the Legislative Council New Territories East geographical constituency by-election today (February 28).
"Voting is very simple. It just takes a few minutes to vote. I appeal to electors to exercise their civic rights and cast their votes as early as possible," Mr Justice Fung said after visiting the polling station at Baptist Lui Ming Choi Primary School in Sha Tin this morning.
"Electors are reminded to bring their identity document to the designated polling station specified on their poll card. They are also advised to bring their poll card to assist the polling staff in verifying whether they are visiting the designated polling station allocated to them. Electors can log in to the Online Voter Information Enquiry System (OVIES) (www.voterinfo.gov.hk) to check their designated polling station, or call the election hotline on 2891 1001 if they have not yet received their poll card.
A total of 146 ordinary polling stations at the New Territories East geographical constituency and 21 dedicated polling stations in the territory are open today for about 940 000 electors listed on the 2015 Final Register to cast their votes.
The ordinary polling stations and the dedicated polling station set up at Tin Sum Police Station are open to electors from 7.30am to 10.30pm. For security reasons, the 20 dedicated polling stations set up in penal institutions are open from 9am to 4pm.
As at 10.30am, 48 834 electors have voted, bringing the cumulative turnout rate to 5.19 per cent.
Mr Justice Fung and Commission members Mr Arthur Luk, SC, and Professor Fanny Cheung, will inspect various polling stations today to see for themselves how electoral activities are being conducted.
The election hotline at 2891 1001 will be in service until 11pm to answer enquiries relating to the by-election.
A complaints hotline at 2827 7251 will operate until 11pm to handle complaints about breaches of electoral rules and guidelines.
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.
Hourly voter turnout and by-election results will be available on the election website (www.elections.gov.hk).
Ends/Sunday, February 28, 2016
Issued at HKT 12:03
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