The 2023 District Council Ordinary Election will be held on December 10 (Sunday). To enable electors living on the Mainland or those who need to travel to and from the Mainland on the polling day to cast their votes, the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) will set up four Near Boundary Polling Stations (NBPSs) at two schools near Sheung Shui MTR Station (namely Hong Kong Taoist Association Tang Hin Memorial Secondary School and Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Kap Yan Directors' College). Electors of the 44 District Council geographical constituencies (DCGCs) who wish to vote at the NBPSs can register through the online registration system (www.reo-form.gov.hk/nbps.htm). The deadline for registration is 6pm next Tuesday (December 5). Late registrations will not be processed.
A spokesman for the REO said today (November 29), "The arrangements are only applicable to DCGC electors. District Committees constituency (DCC) electors must cast their votes at the 18 DCC polling stations across the territory. DCC electors on the Mainland should plan their return trips to Hong Kong as early as possible so that they can cast their votes on the polling day."
When registering, electors are required to provide their names in both Chinese and English, Hong Kong identity card (HKID) number and contact telephone number which can receive SMS messages in Hong Kong or on the Mainland. Electors are also required to choose to vote at a specified timeslot to complete the registration. If electors wish to receive the notification of registration result through email, they can provide an email address during the registration.
After submitting the registration application, the REO will send a notification of registration result to the electors concerned via SMS and email (if applicable) instantly to confirm whether they have successfully registered to vote at NBPSs. Only upon receipt of the notification of registration result confirming their successful registration can electors cast their votes at the relevant polling stations. In case the email address or/and phone number provided by the electors during registration is/are different from the electors' particulars maintained by the REO, the REO will also inform them of their successful registration to vote at the NBPSs via the email address or/and phone number kept in the REO's records to prevent fraudulent registration.
In case registrants have to change their itineraries on the polling day, they can simply cancel the registration and change back to their originally allocated polling stations for casting their votes through the online registration system before the deadline of 6pm next Tuesday. However, if the registration period has already expired when the change of itinerary is made, the electors concerned may contact the REO at 2891 1001 to make appropriate arrangements.
On the polling day, registered electors are required to bring the original copy of their HKID cards to vote at the allocated NBPSs at the specified timeslot. DCGC electors of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon need to vote at Hong Kong Taoist Association Tang Hin Memorial Secondary School, while DCGC electors of the New Territories need to vote at Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Kap Yan Directors' College. Electors may choose to walk for five to six minutes from Sheung Shui MTR Station to the NBPSs. The REO will also arrange shuttle bus to carry electors to and from Sheung Shui MTR Station and the NBPSs. Please refer to the election website (www.elections.gov.hk/dc2023/pdf/Annex1_Shuttle_Eng.pdf) for the location of pick-up and drop-off points.
The spokesman said, "To ensure the smooth and orderly implementation of the arrangements, a pre-registration system is adopted with a quota limit. The maximum number of the registration quota for the NBPSs is set at 38 000 which will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis."
If a registrant would like to ascertain whether he/she is a registered elector, he/she may log in to the Online Voter Information Enquiry System (vr.gov.hk) or call the election hotline (2891 1001) for checking. For details of the NBPS arrangements, members of the public can visit the dedicated election website (www.elections.gov.hk/dc2023/eng/nbps.html). They can also email to reoenq@reo.gov.hk or call the election hotline (2891 1001) for enquiries. The hotline operates from 8.45am to 6pm from Monday to Friday. The service hours of the hotline from December 4 to 10 are as follows: 8.45am to 8pm from December 4 to 7; 8.45am to 9pm from December 8 to 9; and 7.30am to 11pm on December 10 (polling day).
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