EAC chairman inspects polling stations of Legislative Council General Election (with photos)
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The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
The 2021 Legislative Council General Election (LCGE) will be held tomorrow (December 19). The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, visited the Election Committee constituency (ECC) polling station at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), and the polling station at the Heung Yuen Wai Control Point today (December 18).
Mr Justice Fung visited the ECC polling station and inspected the final preparations for tomorrow’s polling arrangements by the staff this morning. He said, “As in the past electoral arrangement, eligible electors can cast all the votes which he/she is entitled to cast at the same polling station. The electors of the ECC will be allocated to the polling station at the HKCEC to cast all the votes which he/she is entitled to cast.”
After visiting the polling station at the Heung Yuen Wai Control Point this afternoon, he said, “It is the first time to set up polling stations at boundary control points (BCPs) in the LCGE, enabling eligible electors who are now in the Mainland to return to Hong Kong to vote tomorrow (December 19). EAC would like to thank the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau for coordinating and making arrangements to set up polling stations at Heung Yuen Wai, Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line control points, facilitating eligible geographical constituency and functional constituency electors who are now in the Mainland to return to Hong Kong to vote and be exempted from the quarantine requirements after fulfilling certain criteria.”
In order not to increase the risk of spreading disease, the polling stations will adopt closed-loop management. After polling hours, the polling stations will be turned into counting stations. Except for electors who have been assigned to the BCP polling stations, candidates or their agents and electoral staff, entry to or exit from the BCP polling stations will be prohibited and public observation of the counting process will not be arranged. However, candidates or their agents can apply to enter the polling stations to observe the counting process.
Mr Justice Fung said, “There will be no public observation of the counting process at the three BCP polling stations. An online live broadcast of the counting process at these three counting stations will be arranged by the Registration and Electoral Office (REO). Members of the public may watch it in real time via Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) TV 32 and the website of the Information Services Department (webcast.info.gov.hk).”
Besides, given the remote location and closed-loop management of the three polling stations at BCPs, upon consideration, the EAC has decided to allow these staff to vote at the polling stations at the relevant BCPs. In addition to the polling staff, other government officers on duty at the relevant BCPs, such as the staff of the Department of Health, the Immigration Department, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Customs and Excise Department, etc, can also vote at the relevant polling station.
Mr Justice Fung extended his thanks to colleagues of the REO and other relevant bureaux/departments for their efforts and called on registered electors to vote tomorrow.
He reminded, “In accordance with the law, only registered electors in the 2021 final registers of electors are eligible to vote in this LCGE. Electors who have yet to receive the poll card should confirm their registration status and check the polling station to which they are allocated via the Online Voter Information Enquiry System (OVIES) (www.voterinfo.gov.hk) or call the hotline of the REO (2891 1001). Electors are reminded that they may vote only at the polling station allocated to them; and the polling station allocated to them in this election may be different from those in the past. Thus, electors should carefully read the name and address of the polling station on the poll card.”
“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 REO (www.reo.gov.hk) and the election website (www.elections.gov.hk) for reference.”
Besides, EAC Members Mr Arthur Luk, SC, and Professor Daniel Shek inspected various polling stations today to see the electoral preparation work, such that the poll and vote count tomorrow would be carried out smoothly.
Meanwhile, Mr Justice Fung was interviewed by a radio programme this morning on the electoral arrangements including the Electronic Poll Register system and special queues, as well as calling on electors to vote tomorrow.