The 2021 Legislative Council General Election (LCGE) will be held this Sunday (December 19). To enable eligible geographical constituency (GC) and functional constituency (FC) electors who are now in the Mainland to return to Hong Kong to vote on the polling day and be exempted from the quarantine requirements after fulfilling certain criteria, three polling stations will be set up at Heung Yuen Wai, Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line boundary control points (BCPs).
 
     After the close of the polls, the three polling stations will be turned into counting stations for the counting of GC votes. If the number of registered electors of certain GCs allocated to vote at the polling stations at Heung Yuen Wai and Lo Wu control points are less than 500, the concerned ballot boxes will be transported to the counting station at Lok Ma Chau Spur Line control point, where ballot papers will be mixed with those of the respective GCs cast therein before counting to protect the secrecy of votes.
 
     The ballot boxes of all FCs will be delivered to the central counting station at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre for counting.
 
     To tie in with relevant anti-epidemic measures, except for electors who have been assigned to the BCP polling stations, candidates or their agents and electoral staff, entry to or exit from the BCP polling stations will be prohibited and public observation of the counting process will not be arranged.
 
     A spokesman for the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) said today (December 16) that to increase transparency, the counting of votes at the three polling stations will be broadcast live on RTHK TV 32 of Radio Television Hong Kong and the website of the Information Services Department (webcast.info.gov.hk).
 
     Moreover, the Electronic Poll Register (EPR) system will be used for issuing ballot papers at most ordinary polling stations with wired network coverage in this LCGE. However, instead of using the EPR system, the printed copy of the final register will be used for issuing ballot papers at ordinary polling stations where the wired network coverage is unsatisfactory, or where the polling stations are located in remote areas and there are difficulties in installation and technical support. Please refer to the annex for the list of relevant polling stations.
 
        For enquiries, please call the REO's hotline on 2891 1001 or visit the election website (www.elections.gov.hk) for more information on the election.

Ends/Thursday, December 16, 2021
Issued at HKT 19:45

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