Nominations for Legislative Council General Election to start tomorrow
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The Legislative Council General Election will be held on December 19. A total of 90 members, 20 from geographical constituencies, 30 from functional constituencies and 40 from the Election Committee constituency, will be returned.
"Nominees are advised to submit their nominations as early as possible to allow time to correct mistakes, if any, in the nomination forms before the deadline," a spokesman for the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) said today (October 29).
"To run for a seat in a geographical constituency, a functional constituency or the Election Committee constituency, a nominee must be a registered geographical constituency elector aged 21 or above. He/she must also have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the three years immediately preceding the date of his/her nomination, and must be a Chinese citizen who is a Hong Kong permanent resident with no right of abode in a foreign country," the spokesman said.
However, the candidature in 12 functional constituencies is open to Hong Kong permanent residents who are not Chinese citizens or who have the right of abode in a foreign country. These constituencies are: legal; accountancy; engineering; architectural, surveying, planning and landscape; real estate and construction; tourism; commercial (first); industrial (first); finance; financial services; import and export; and insurance.
A nominee for the functional constituency election must be a registered elector for, or have a substantial connection with, the relevant functional constituency. For the Election Committee constituency election, a nominee needs not be a member of the Election Committee. Details on the eligibility to be nominated as a candidate, disqualification from being nominated as a candidate and from being elected as a member, as well as the requirements to be complied with by persons nominated as candidates are set out in sections 37, 39 and 40 respectively of the Legislative Council Ordinance (Cap. 542).
For the geographical constituency election, each nominee needs to be subscribed by at least 100 but not more than 200 registered electors of the constituency concerned and an elector may subscribe only one nomination of the geographical constituency in the capacity as an elector in respect of his/her own geographical constituency. Each nominee for the geographical constituency election must also be subscribed by at least 10 but not more than 20 members of the Election Committee, which must include at least two but not more than four members from each of the five sectors of the Election Committee. A member of the Election Committee may subscribe only one nomination form of the geographical constituency election in his/her capacity as a member of the Election Committee.
Each nominee for the functional constituency election must be subscribed by at least 10 but not more than 20 registered electors of the constituency concerned and an elector may subscribe any number of nomination forms up to the number of seats in his/her functional constituency. Each nominee for the functional constituency election must also be subscribed by at least 10 but not more than 20 members of the Election Committee, which must include at least two but not more than four members from each of the five sectors of the Election Committee. A member of the Election Committee may subscribe only one nomination form of the functional constituency election in his/her capacity as a member of the Election Committee.
For the Election Committee constituency election, each nominee must be subscribed by at least 10 but not more than 20 members of the Election Committee, which must include at least two but not more than four members from each of the five sectors of the Election Committee. A member of the Election Committee may subscribe only one nomination form of the Election Committee constituency election.
"According to the relevant legislation, if a member of the Election Committee subscribes more nomination forms than the number of nomination forms which the member is entitled to in a particular capacity, generally the member's signature is inoperative on any nomination form so subscribed other than the first one delivered. If the candidate concerned cannot make up the required number of subscriptions from the electors of the geographical constituency/functional constituency or members of the Election Committee before the close of the nomination period, the nomination of the candidate will be invalid," the spokesman reminded.
The Electoral Affairs Commission has appointed Returning Officers for the 10 geographical constituencies, 28 functional constituencies and the Election Committee constituency in the election. They will handle the nomination forms and other electoral matters. Notices for the election and the appointment of Returning Officers, with their office addresses, were uploaded to the REO website (www.reo.gov.hk) and election website (www.elections.gov.hk).
Nomination forms are available at the District Offices, the relevant Returning Officers' offices, and the offices of the REO at 10/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, or Unit 2301-03, 23/F, Millennium City 6, 392 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon. They can also be downloaded from the above-mentioned websites.
Completed nomination forms and the election deposit must be submitted by the nominees in person to the respective Returning Officers within the nomination period. Nominations are accepted between 9am and 5pm from Mondays to Fridays and between 9am and noon on Saturdays. An election deposit of $50,000 needs to be paid by each nominee for the geographical constituency election. Each nominee for the functional constituency election or Election Committee constituency election has to pay an election deposit of $25,000. Nominees are also encouraged to pay the election deposit by cash or cashier order to avoid unwarranted complications arising from a cheque not being honoured.
Separately, pursuant to section 16(3A)(b) of the Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (Legislative Council) Regulation (Cap. 541D), in deciding whether a candidate is validly nominated for a constituency, the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee (CERC) may require the candidate to furnish any other information that the CERC considers appropriate to be satisfied that the candidate is eligible to be nominated as a candidate or otherwise as to the validity of the nomination. The CERC now requests each nominee to complete and return the "Candidate Eligibility Review Supplementary Information Form" (Supplementary Information Form). The Supplementary Information Forms are distributed together with the nomination forms and can be downloaded from the REO website and election website. Nominees should put the completed Supplementary Information Form in a separate and sealed envelope and hand it in person together with the nomination form to the office of the Returning Officer for onward transmission of the Supplementary Information Form to the CERC Secretariat during the nomination period. Nominees can also choose to submit the completed Supplementary Information Form directly to the CERC Secretariat as soon as possible but no later than 5pm on November 12 through any of the following means:
- email to cerc_secretariat@cerc.gov.hk;
- fax to 2677 7301; or
- return to the drop-in box of the CERC Secretariat at the entrance on 2/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong.
Copies of the nomination forms are available for public inspection at the offices of the Returning Officers during ordinary business hours after the start of the nomination period. Members of the public may also inspect copies of the nomination forms of all the functional constituency elections and Election Committee constituency election at the REO office at Unit 2301-03, 23/F, Millennium City 6, 392 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon.
For enquiries, please call the election hotline on 2891 1001.
Ends/Friday, October 29, 2021
Issued at HKT 15:00
Issued at HKT 15:00
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