Setting up polling station at Penny’s Bay Community Isolation Facility for 2022 Chief Executive Election
The 2022 Chief Executive Election will be held on May 8. The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) will set up a main polling station at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), Wan Chai, for the Election Committee (EC) members to cast their votes. Taking into account the current epidemic situation, the REO will also set up a Penny's Bay Polling Station (PBPS) at the Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility for EC members who are unable to cast their votes at the main polling station on the polling day due to local isolation or quarantine measures.
The REO explained that the arrangements are applicable to EC members who are unable to cast their votes at the main polling station on the polling day due to the following situations (collectively referred to as "affected EC members"):
(a) under isolation in community isolation facilities;
(b) under quarantine in quarantine facilities;
(c) undergoing home quarantine;
(d) inbound travellers undergoing quarantine at designated places (for example, quarantine hotels); and
(e) the Government has issued a "restriction-testing declaration" requiring them to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing, and the EC members and/or their household member(s) are later confirmed to carry a positive result.
After the close of the poll at the PBPS, sufficient time would need to be reserved for disinfection and delivery of ballot papers to the central counting station located at the HKCEC. As such, the polling hours of the PBPS are specified to be 9am to 10.30am. To ensure that EC members can cast their votes in a timely manner within the specified polling hours, affected EC members will have to be admitted into the Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility one day before the polling day (May 7) and stay for one night before they cast their votes in the polling station inside the facility in the morning of the following day. After voting, EC members can return to their original place to undergo the relevant isolation or quarantine (if required). EC members who only confirm on May 8 (before the close of the poll at the PBPS) their need to undergo isolation or quarantine should immediately contact the REO for providing practicable assistance in arranging for them to cast their vote as far as possible.
From May 3 to the close of the poll at the PBPS on May 8, affected EC members can call the dedicated service hotline during business hours (9am to 6pm) from May 3 to 6 and from 9am on May 7 till 10.30am on May 8 (REO will later provide the number of the hotline via SMS and/or email to all EC members). The REO will co-ordinate with other related departments to provide one-stop services, including arranging designated taxis to transport affected EC members, as well as their admission into the Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility. In addition, affected EC members who find themselves subjected to the "restriction-testing declaration" on the evening of May 7 should contact the REO via the dedicated service hotline as early as possible so that appropriate assistance can be provided to facilitate them to vote.
The REO also remarks that pursuant to Section 32 of the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation (Cap. 599A), a person shall not, knowing that he/she is a contact or is infected with a specified infectious disease, by the conducts specified in subsection (1) of that section, expose other persons to the risk of infection. The REO urges affected EC members not to cast their votes in the main polling station at the HKCEC, but to contact the REO as soon as possible to exercise their voting rights in accordance with the arrangements above. If EC members have any questions regarding the above arrangement, they may call the REO hotline on 2891 1001.