The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
Notices on the nomination and appointment of the Returning Officer for the sixth-term Chief Executive Election were published in the Gazette today (March 25).
The Chief Executive Election will be held on May 8. The nomination period will run from April 3 to 16.
Pursuant to the Electoral Procedure (Chief Executive Election) Regulation (Cap. 541J), a candidate must submit the completed nomination form in person to the Returning Officer at City Gallery, 3 Edinburgh Place, Central, during ordinary business hours (i.e. from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Friday (other than a general holiday), and from 9am to noon on Saturdays (other than a general holiday)) during the nomination period. As April 15 and 16 are both general holidays, the deadline for submitting the nomination form would be 5pm on April 14.
A Hong Kong Special Administrative Region permanent resident who is a Chinese citizen, with no right of abode in any foreign country, has reached 40 years of age and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 20 years is eligible for nomination as a candidate. Details of the eligibility and disqualification for nomination as a candidate are set out in sections 13 and 14 of the Chief Executive Election Ordinance (Cap. 569) respectively.
A candidate's nomination must be subscribed by not less than 188 members of the Election Committee (EC), with not less than 15 members of the EC in each of the five sectors.
Mr Justice Keith Yeung Kar-hung, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, has been appointed by the Electoral Affairs Commission as the Returning Officer for the election. Notices for the election and the appointment of the Returning Officer, with his office address, have been uploaded to the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) website (www.reo.gov.hk) and the election website (www.elections.gov.hk).
Nomination forms can be obtained on the ground floor of City Gallery, 3 Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong, during ordinary business hours before the close of the nomination period, and can be downloaded from the above-mentioned websites.
Separately, pursuant to section 4A(5)(b) of the Electoral Procedure (Chief Executive Election) Regulation (Cap. 541J), in deciding whether a candidate is validly nominated, the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee (CERC) may require the candidate to furnish any other information that the CERC considers appropriate to be satisfied as to the validity of the nomination. The CERC now requests each nominee to complete and return the Candidate Eligibility Review Supplementary Information Form. The Supplementary Information Form is distributed together with the nomination forms and can be downloaded from the REO website. Nominees should put the completed Supplementary Information Form in a separate and sealed envelope and hand it in person, together with the nomination form, to the office of the Returning Officer for onward transmission of the Supplementary Information Form to the CERC Secretariat during the nomination period. Nominees can also choose to submit the completed Supplementary Information Form directly to the CERC Secretariat as soon as possible but no later than noon on April 16 through any of the following means:
- email to cerc_secretariat@cerc.gov.hk;
- fax to 2677 7301; or
- return to the drop-in box of the CERC Secretariat at the entrance at 2/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong.
In view of the latest epidemic situation, if any EC member is not in Hong Kong or under compulsory quarantine during the nomination period and needs assistance relating to nomination matters, the EC member can call the REO hotline at 2891 1001 (hotline operation hours from 8.45am to 6pm from Monday to Friday (except public holidays)).
For enquiries, please call the REO hotline on 2891 1001.
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