EAC chairman visits ECSSOEs polling station and central counting station (with photos)

The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
 
     The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, said after his visit to the polling station and central counting station at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) today (September 18) that most of the preparatory work for the 2021 Election Committee Subsector Ordinary Elections (ECSSOEs) is nearing completion and that staff members would continue their work to ensure that the poll and vote count tomorrow (September 19) would be carried out smoothly.
 
     He thanked colleagues for their hard work and appealed to registered voters/authorised representatives (ARs) of corporate voters to vote tomorrow.
 
     "In the 2021 ECSSOEs, there will be 412 candidates contesting a total of 364 seats in 13 subsectors. Five ordinary polling stations and one dedicated polling station at a police station will be set up for about 5 000 registered voters of the contested subsectors. The polling hours will be from 9am to 6pm, a total of 9 hours. Voters/ARs are reminded to bring their original of the Hong Kong identity card to cast their vote(s) at the polling station allocated, as specified on their poll card. From past experience, more electors/voters chose to vote in the morning of polling day. However, to avoid long queues at the polling stations due to too many voters/ARs going to vote at the same time, they may choose to vote around noon or in the afternoon with comparatively less voters/ARs.  
 
     "An Electronic Poll Register System will also be used for the first time for issuing ballot papers at the polling station, for more efficient and accurate issuance of ballot papers. In addition, two queues will be set up at the polling station for the first time: a special queue for persons who are aged 70 or above, persons who have difficulties in standing for a long time to queue due to their physical condition and pregnant women; another queue is for other voters/ARs. The Presiding Officers will flexibly deploy ballot paper issuing desks with a view to reducing the overall waiting time.
 
     "We have produced a short video on the polling procedures and preventive measures for COVID-19 to be implemented in the polling stations. The video has been uploaded to the websites of the EAC (www.eac.hk), the Registration and Electoral Office (www.reo.gov.hk) and the election website (www.elections.gov.hk) for reference," he added.
 
     Mr Justice Fung also introduced the arrangements for the vote count.
 
     "Once the poll is closed, the ballot boxes of ordinary polling stations and dedicated polling station will be delivered to the central counting station at the HKCEC where counting of votes will take place. Candidates, election agents and counting agents can enter the central counting station to observe the count at the designated area."
 
     Mr Justice Fung said, in addition to the central counting station, there is also a media centre at the HKCEC, where all the election results will be announced by Returning Officers. A public gallery will be set up at the media centre for members of the public to watch the announcement of results. Given that social distancing should be maintained among the people in the venue, there will be about 350 seats in the public gallery. Admission to the public gallery will be opened from 6.30pm on September 19 on a first come, first served basis. To facilitate admission control, members of the public admitted to the venue will be required to wear a wristband provided by the REO for identification purpose.
 
     All election results will be uploaded to the election website (www.elections.gov.hk).
 
     For enquiries, please call the election hotline on 2891 1001 or visit the election website (www.elections.gov.hk).