Voters to follow proper procedures to vote in Election Committee Subsector Elections (with photos)
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The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:

     The 2011 Election Committee Subsector Elections will be held on Sunday (December 11). Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, called on voters to follow proper procedures when voting.

     Speaking after touring a mock polling station at Causeway Bay Community Centre this afternoon (December 7), Mr Justice Fung said, "Voters should bring their identity document to the designated polling station specified on their poll card in order to cast their ballots."

     "When voting, voters should use the pen provided to shade the ovals next to the name of each chosen candidate on the ballot paper. They should vote for no more than the prescribed number of seats in the relevant subsector. Otherwise the ballot paper will become invalid and will not be counted. Each ballot paper will indicate clearly the number of seats allocated to that subsector.

     "Voters should put the marked ballot paper into the envelope provided before putting it into the ballot box in the direction as indicated by the arrow on the envelope. They should not fold the ballot paper or the envelope," he said.

     "Because of the considerable number of candidates, it is in principle alright for voters to bring along a paper listing the candidate numbers of their choice for easy reference when marking the ballot papers.  Nevertheless, voters have to note that they should not show this paper to other people inside the polling station and they should also take this paper with them when leaving the polling station.   Otherwise the voters concerned may violate the law.

      "All polling stations will also have the introductory leaflets of candidates printed by the Registration and Electoral Office of the various subsectors for reference by the voters," Mr Justice Fung said.

     Talking about voting eligibility, Mr Justice Fung said there are clear provisions in the law on the eligibility for registration and voting.  He reminded voters that, if they have ceased to be eligible for registration, they are disqualified from voting and should not vote in the coming election on Sunday.  Otherwise, they would breach the electoral law.  

     Regarding the Internet Professional Association Limited (iProA) incident, a spokesman for the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) supplemented that the REO had received information from the organisation and had followed up to issue disqualification letters to 24 voters.

     Mr Justice Fung reminded voters of four subsectors to take note of the number of seats they can vote for.  They are the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Heung Yee Kuk, Hong Kong and Kowloon District Councils, and New Territories District Councils.

     According to the existing legislative arrangement, 10 "Special Member" seats will be allocated to these four subsectors: Four for the CPPCC subsector, and two each to Heung Yee Kuk subsector, the Hong Kong and Kowloon District Councils subsector, and the New Territories District Councils subsector.

     Voters for these four subsectors can only vote for candidates not more than the number of members allocated to the subsector concerned (the number does not include the "Special Members"), i.e., 51 for CPPCC, 26 for Heung Yee Kuk, 57 for the Hong Kong and Kowloon District Councils, and 60 for the New Territories District Councils. For candidates who are not elected in these four subsectors, those who obtain the greatest number of votes in the respective subsectors will in order become the "Special Members".

     Four mock polling stations will open from noon to 8pm from tomorrow until Saturday (December 8 to 10) for voters to familiarise themselves with the voting procedures for the Election Committee Subsector Elections.  Apart from the mock polling station at Causeway Bay Community Centre, three others will be set up at Henry G. Leong Yau Ma Tei Community Centre, Tuen Mun Town Hall and Tai Po Community Centre.

     Mr Justice Fung also reminded voters to safeguard the secrecy of votes.

     "The ballot is secret. Voters should mark their ballot papers inside a voting compartment. If necessary, a voter may ask the Presiding Officer or his deputy to mark the ballot paper on his behalf, in the presence of a member of the polling staff as witness," he said.

     It is an offence for voters to use mobile phones or other electronic communication devices, take photographs, or make video or audio recording in a polling station.

     Distribution of election advertisements and display of propaganda material, such as any badge, emblem, clothing or head-dress inside polling stations is also prohibited.

     A total of 1,300 candidates will run for 766 seats in 24 subsectors on polling day. 110 ordinary polling stations and two dedicated polling stations set up in police stations will open from 7.30am to 10.30pm for about 237,000 registered voters in the contested subsectors to cast their ballots.

     Should there be any voters imprisoned or remanded in the Correctional Services Department's custody on polling day, they will be arranged to vote at the dedicated polling stations set up in their respective penal institutions. For security reasons, the polling hours of the dedicated polling stations in penal institutions will be from 9am to 4pm.

     Once the poll is closed, ballot boxes of the ordinary polling stations and the dedicated polling stations will be delivered to the central counting station at Halls 3B-3E of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai where counting of votes will take place. Members of the public can observe the counting process at the designated public area (i.e. Hall 3E) inside the central counting station from 10pm on December 11.

     Election results will be announced by the Returning Officers at the central counting station. They will also be uploaded to the election website (www.elections.gov.hk).

     For enquiries, please call the election hotline on 2891 1001.

Ends/Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Issued at HKT 21:30

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