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The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:

The first stage of the second Legislative Council elections of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will begin in two weeks' time (May 31) as the nomination exercise for the formation of the 800-member Election Committee opens.

The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing, called on eligible persons from various trades, professions, labour groups and district-based organisations to enter the race for a seat on the Election Committee.

"Lay hold of this opportunity to represent your subsector on the Election Committee, which is responsible for electing six Legislative Council members in September to serve Hong Kong for the next four years," he said at a press conference.

A total of 664 seats for 35 subsectors are up for grabs. Each subsector is allocated 11 to 41 seats. The elected members will join 96 ex-officio members (Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress and Legislative Council members) and 40 members nominated by six designated bodies of the religious subsector on the Election Committee.

The subsector elections will be held on Sunday, July 9. Twenty-two Returning Officers and 22 Assistant Returning Officers have been appointed to receive nomination forms between May 31 and June 7 and to handle other electoral matters.

Any registered geographical constituency elector who is a registered voter for a subsector, or who has a substantial connection with a subsector, is eligible to run as a candidate for that subsector. Each nomination must be subscribed by at least five voters and a deposit of $1,000 must be paid.

Nomination forms are available at the Registration and Electoral Office, 10/F Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai; any District Offices, the Returning Officer's office and the web site, www.info.gov.hk/reo.

Mr Justice Woo announced that the Commission had issued a set of Guidelines on Election-related Activities laying down rules governing electoral arrangements and activities. Main points of the newly enacted Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance have been incorporated into the Guidelines.

"The spirit of fairness, openness and honesty embodied in the Guidelines applies to both the Election Committee subsector elections and the general election. The Commission will rigorously observe this principle to ensure fair play."

"A strict mechanism is in place to ensure that candidates do not spend more than the statutory ceiling. This is one of the factors making elections in Hong Kong fair and honest," he said.

He advised candidates to keep an accurate account of every cent they spent on promoting their candidature and received as election donations. Candidates must submit to the Registration and Electoral Office a return and declaration of election expenses and donations not later than 30 days after election results are gazetted.

All the returns will be made available for public inspection and will be checked by the Registration and Electoral Office. Irregularities detected will be reported to the Independent Commission Against Corruption for investigation.

Under the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance, a candidate is required to lodge with the Returning Officer a declaration and two copies of a printed election advertisement within seven days after publishing it.

But the Commission requires a candidate to submit a declaration, two samples of an election advertisement and a copy of the written authorisation for display to the Returning Officer before it is displayed.

"It is necessary for the Commission to impose a more stringent requirement to enable Returning Officers to deal with complaints of unauthorised electioneering and to take remedial action promptly," he said.

A similar requirement applies to the deposit of a copy of consent of support, which must be obtained before a candidate can indicate in his election advertisements that he has the support of a person or an organisation. The Commission's regulations specify that a copy of the consent must be deposited with the Returning Officer before the advertisements are displayed.

The Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance defines election advertisement as any material published for the purpose of promoting or prejudicing the election of a candidate. The Guidelines specify that it covers publicity material containing the name or photograph of a candidate issued during the election period even though the content is not, on the face of it, election-related.

Mr Justice Woo reminded candidates who were television and radio presenters and regular columnists to suspend their usual role in a programme or contributing articles for a brief period from the start of the nomination period to the end of the elections. The period lasts five weeks for the subsector elections and seven weeks for the general election.

A hotline - 2827 7656 - will be up and running from May 31 to receive complaints of breaches of electoral rules.

As elections are approaching, relevant departments have been asked to revoke all the authorisations granted for displaying billboards and posters at public places. Designated spots will be fairly allocated to candidates for displaying election advertisements after the nomination period closes.

"All kinds of advertisements at public places must go by May 22, nine days before the nomination period starts. If they remain there, Government staff will remove them," he said.

"Candidates should remember to remove their election advertisements within seven days after the polling day. If they don't, Government staff will clear the advertisements and charge them the cost of removal," he added.

The final registers of electors for the general election and the subsector elections will be published on May 25. More than 170,000 voters, including about 14,000 authorised representatives of corporate voters, may vote on July 9. Each voter will be allocated to one of the 100 polling stations on the basis of their registered home address.

"Votes will be counted by computers. A voter must use a pen to shade the ovals against the names of the candidates of his choice on a ballot paper," he said.

All ballot papers will be delivered to a central counting station at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre for counting.

End/Wednesday, May 17, 2000

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