| SCA urged registered voters to cast ballots tomorrow |
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The Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, Mr Michael Suen, today (September 9) urged all 3.05 million registered voters to cast their ballots at the Legislative Council (LegCo) Elections tomorrow.
Mr Suen pointed out that this year's LegCo Elections is another milestone of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's political development. It provides an opportunity for members of the public to participate in community affairs directly. He called on all voters to exercise their rights by electing their representatives to the LegCo to serve for Hong Kong in the future four years. Together with the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lam Woon-kwong and Director of Home Affairs, Ms Shelley Lee, Mr Suen introduced once again the simple and easy voting procedure at an election countdown event this morning. Mr Suen said that all a voter of the Geographical Constituencies (GC) has to do is to mark a tick in the circle next to the list of candidates he/she has chosen with a chop provided by polling staff. He urged voters not to invalid a ballot paper by giving a blank vote or make any mark on the paper. In the Functional Constituencies (FC) elections, nine candidates had been elected uncontested. Except the Transport FC, voters of the remaining 18 FCs should mark the ballot papers with a chop provided by polling staff. Among these 18 FCs, 17 of them will each return one LegCo member. Voters of these 17 FCs may cast one vote. For the Labour FC with three seats, each voter may cast up to three votes by marking three ticks on the ballet papers. For the Transport FC which has two candidates and a small number of voters, another voting system will be used. A voter must mark "1" in the circle opposite the name of candidate of his/her first preference, "2" opposite the name of candidate of their second preference. For the Election Committee election, each voter is required to choose six candidates, no more and no less, by shading in black the ovals against the names of the six candidates of his/her choice with a pen provided by polling staff. A total of 522 polling stations have been set up throughout the Special Administrative Region. For voters of the Transport FC, they should cast their ballots at special polling stations. For voters of the remaining 18 FCs, they may cast their votes for their respective FCs and GCs at their designated polling stations at one stop. Four special polling stations are set up in the territory to serve the Election Committee members and voters of the Transport FC. The four polling stations are located in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai; Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui; Yuen Wo Road Indoor Recreation Centre; and Kwai Tsing Theatre, New Territories. Staff at the polling stations will be on hand to assist voters. End/Saturday, September 9, 2000 |