The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, called on registered electors of the Kowloon West geographical constituency to vote in the Legislative Council Kowloon West geographical constituency by-election today (November 25).
"Voting is very simple. It just takes a few minutes to vote. I appeal to electors to exercise their civic rights and vote as early as possible," Mr Justice Fung said after visiting the polling station at TWGHs Lo Yu Chik Primary School this morning.
"Electors must carry the original of their Hong Kong identity card or other specified alternative documents to the designated polling station to collect their ballot papers to cast votes. Electors may only cast their votes at the designated polling station as specified on their poll card. Electors can log in to the Online Voter Information Enquiry System (OVIES) (www.voterinfo.gov.hk) if they have not yet received their poll card to check whether they are registered electors of the Kowloon West geographical constituency and their designated polling station. They can also call the election hotline 2891 1001 for enquiries."
A total of 73 ordinary polling stations in the Kowloon West geographical constituency and 19 dedicated polling stations are open today for about 490 000 electors of the Kowloon West geographical constituency listed on the 2018 Final Register to cast their votes. The polling hours for the ordinary polling stations and the dedicated polling station set up at Cheung Sha Wan Police Station will be from 7.30am to 10.30pm. For the dedicated polling stations set up at penal institutions, for security reasons, the polling hours will be from 9am to 4pm.
As at 10.30am, 32 204 electors have voted, bringing the cumulative turnout rate to 6.61 per cent.
Mr Justice Fung and Commission members Mr Arthur Luk, SC, and Professor Fanny Cheung, will visit various polling stations today to observe the electoral activities.
The election hotline at 2891 1001 will be in service until 11pm to answer enquiries relating to the by-election.
A complaints hotline at 2827 7251 will operate until 11pm to handle complaints about breaches of electoral rules and guidelines.
Once the poll closes, all ordinary polling stations will be converted into counting stations for counting of votes. The counting stations will be open to the public once the conversion has been completed. Members of the public will be able to watch the counting process at designated areas inside the counting stations.
A media centre will be set up at the Tiu Keng Leng Sports Centre, 2 Chui Ling Road, Tseung Kwan O, where the election result will be announced by the Returning Officer. A public gallery will be set up for members of the public to watch the announcement of result at the media centre. In view of the limited seating capacity, admission to the public gallery will be arranged on a first come, first served basis from 11pm. To facilitate admission control, members of the public admitted to the venue will be required to wear a wristband provided by the Registration and Electoral Office for identification purpose. Public enquiries about the venue arrangement can be made at 3904 0290, which will operate from 10pm to the announcement of the election result.
Hourly voter turnout and election result will be available on the election website (www.elections.gov.hk).
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