Electors urged to follow proper voting procedures in Legislative Council General Election (with photos)
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The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, reminded electors to follow proper voting procedures in the Legislative Council General Election on Sunday (September 4).
Mr Justice Fung visited a mock polling station at Leighton Hill Community Hall today (August 28). He reminded electors to take their identity document to the designated polling station specified on the poll card.
“Electors can log in to the Online Voter Information Enquiry System (OVIES) (www.voterinfo.gov.hk) if they have not yet received their poll card to check whether they are registered electors and their designated polling station. They can also call the election hotline 2891 1001 for enquiries,” he said.
The mock polling station at Leighton Hill Community Hall is among the four mock polling stations open for electors to familiarise themselves with voting procedures for the Legislative Council General Election. The other three are at the Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre, Tuen Mun Tseng Choi Street Community Hall and Tai Po Community Centre.
The mock polling stations will be open from noon to 8pm from tomorrow until Saturday (August 29 – September 3).
A hotline (2967 0416) and a fax (2834 0934) have been set up to arrange appointments for group visits to the mock polling stations from August 29 to September 2.
"Under the 'one-person-two-votes' arrangement, of the about 3,780,000 registered geographical constituency electors, about 3,470,000 electors can cast one vote each in their respective geographical constituency (GC) and the District Council (second) functional constituency. About 230,000 electors of the 18 contested functional constituencies (FC) can vote in their respective traditional FCs," Mr Justice Fung said.
“The GC and District Council (second) functional constituency ballot papers will be pre-folded inward once along the dotted line by the polling staff at the ballot paper issuing desk before they are issued to electors. Electors must use the chop provided by the polling stations to stamp the ballot papers with a 'tick' in the circle opposite the chosen candidate list, and fold the ballot papers inward once along the dotted line to conceal the mark and then put them into the ballot boxes,” he added.
The GC ballot paper whose pattern on the back is blue should be put into the blue ballot box and the District Council (second) functional constituency ballot paper whose back is mainly white should be put into the white ballot box. The ballot papers of the traditional FCs should be put into the red ballot box.
A total of 571 ordinary polling stations and 24 dedicated polling stations across Hong Kong will be opened on the polling day on September 4 for registered electors to cast their votes.
The polling hours for the ordinary polling stations and the three dedicated polling stations set up at police stations will be from 7.30am to 10.30pm. For the 21 dedicated polling stations set up in penal institutions, for security reasons, the polling hours will be from 9am to 4pm.
Mr Justice Fung reminded electors about the importance of safeguarding the secrecy of votes.
"Electors should mark the ballot papers by themselves inside a voting compartment. An elector in need may ask the Presiding Officer or his deputy to mark the ballot paper on his behalf, in the presence of a polling staff as witness," he said.
Electors should observe order inside the polling station and obey the order of the Presiding Officer. It is an offence for any person who disturbs others, disrupts the poll or misconducts in the polling station. Electors who fail to obey any lawful order of the Presiding Officer may be ordered by the Presiding Officer to leave the polling station immediately.
"Once the poll closes, most polling stations will be converted into counting stations for counting the GC votes. Ballot papers of all FCs, including the District Council (second) functional constituency, will be delivered to the central counting station at the AsiaWorld-Expo," Mr Justice Fung said.
All counting stations will be opened to the public once the count commences. Members of the public will be able to watch the counting process at designated areas inside the counting stations. All election results for GCs and FCs will be announced by Returning Officers at the media centre of the central counting station. A public gallery will be set up for members of the public to watch the announcement of results at the media centre. In view of the limited seating capacity, admission to the public gallery will be arranged on a first come, first served basis from 11pm on September 4. To facilitate admission control, members of the public admitted to the venue will be required to wear a wristband provided by the REO for identification purpose. Information on the special transport arrangements and food and beverage service of the central counting station is available on the election website (www.elections.gov.hk).
Electors may call the election hotline on 2891 1001 for enquiries.
Ends/Sunday, August 28, 2016
Issued at HKT 13:40
Issued at HKT 13:40
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