Election Brief

Polling Date and Hours

• Polling day:  6 September 2020 (Sunday)
• Polling hours:  7:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m. (except for dedicated polling stations situated in prisons where the polling hours will be from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.)

Nomination Period

• Nomination period of candidature:  18 to 31 July 2020
• Nomination forms can be downloaded from the Registration and Electoral Office (“REO”) website (www.reo.gov.hk), or collected free of charge at the following offices:
  1. District Offices
  2. Office of the Returning Officers
  3. Offices of REO (10/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong or Unit 2301-03, 23/F, Millennium City 6, 392 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon)

Composition of Legislative Council

• The Seventh Legislative Council (2020-2024) is composed of 70 Members, with 35 to be returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections and the other 35 by functional constituencies.
• The term of office commencing from 1 October 2020 is four years.

Voting system: List system of proportional representation

Three voting systems: (a) the preferential elimination system of voting for the first four special FCs marked with *; (b) the list system of proportional representation for the District Council (second) FC; and (c) the first-past-the-post voting system for the remaining 24 ordinary FCs.

1-Person-2-Votes

• Each elector will have one vote for the geographical constituency and one vote for the functional constituency.
• All geographical constituency electors who are not registered in the 28 traditional functional constituencies are eligible to be registered in the District Council (second) FC.

Who can Vote?

• Registered electors whose names have been included in the 2020 Final Register of Electors may cast their votes in the election.

More details

Why Vote?

• To elect a Legislative Council Member for respective geographical constituency and/or functional constituency.
• To exercise civic rights and fulfill civic responsibilities.

Where to Vote?

• Each elector or authorised representative (“AR”) will be assigned to a designated polling station near his/her residential address registered in the Final Register of Electors as far as practicable.
• Electors in custody will be arranged to vote at dedicated polling stations in penal institutions or police stations as appropriate.
• A poll card showing information about the designated polling station of an individual elector or AR will be issued to the respective electors or ARs at least 10 days before the polling day.
• Whether the polling station allocated to an elector or AR is accessible to persons with special needs (wheelchair users or persons have mobility difficulty) will be specified in the location map attached to the poll card. If the designated polling station is considered not accessible, these electors or ARs may apply to the REO to vote at the designated special polling station accessible to wheelchair users by fax (2891 1180), by email (reoenq@reo.gov.hk), by telephone (2891 1001) or by mail (10/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong) not later than 1 September 2020.

How to Vote?

• Bring the original of your Hong Kong Identity Card (“HKID card”) or other specified alternative document(s) (please refer to the section “Document(s) Required for Collecting Ballot Paper(s)” below for details) to your designated polling station on 6 September 2020 (Sunday) during the polling hours (7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.).
• Present the original of your HKID card or other specified alternative document(s) to the polling staff inside the polling station who will verify your information against the Final Register of Electors.
• You will be given ballot paper(s), depending on your entitlement, and one cardboard to which a “” chop is attached. The GC and District Council (second) FC ballot papers are pre-folded by the polling staff. A black pen will also be given to an elector or AR of the four special FCs (i.e. Heung Yee Kuk FC, Agriculture and Fisheries FC, Insurance FC and Transport FC). After that, you should immediately proceed to one of the voting compartments.
• You must mark your ballot paper(s) inside a voting compartment. Please follow the instructions given by polling staff as well as those printed on the ballot paper(s) and notices inside the voting compartment.
• You (except for electors or ARs of the four special FCs) must use the chop attached to the cardboard to stamp a "" in the circle opposite the list of candidate(s) or the name of the candidate of your choice on the ballot paper.
• For electors or ARs of the four special FCs, please use the black pen issued to you to mark an Arabic numeral “1” in the circle opposite the name of the candidate of your first preference and an Arabic numeral “2” opposite the name of the candidate of your second preference, and so on. You must mark a first preference for one candidate only.
• If you have made any error in marking a ballot paper or have inadvertently spoiled a ballot paper, you may return that ballot paper to the Presiding Officer and ask for a replacement.
• After marking a ballot paper:
  1. a GC elector should fold the ballot paper once according to the pre-folding by polling staff so that the marked side is inside to conceal the "" before putting it into the blue ballot box;
  2. a District Council (second) FC elector should similarly fold the ballot paper once and then put it into the white ballot box; and
  3. an elector or AR of the other FCs should not fold the ballot paper, but turn it face down and put it into the red ballot box.

Document(s) Required for Collecting Ballot Paper(s)

• With effect from 10 December 2018, a person applying for ballot paper(s) should produce the original of his/her HKID card or the following specified alternative document(s):
  1. the original of a valid Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“HKSAR”) Passport; or
  2. the original of Certificate of Exemption; or
  3. the original of an acknowledgement of application for the HKID card; or
  4. the original of the person’s valid seaman’s identity book; or
  5. the original of the person’s valid document of identity for visa purposes; or
  6. a document evidencing a report to a police officer of the loss or destruction of the person’s HKID card or the Certificate of Exemption or the acknowledgement of application for the HKID card (commonly referred to as “a memo of lost property”), together with the original of a valid passport or similar travel document (e.g. a passport other than the HKSAR Passport or the Home Return Permit) showing his/her name and photograph.
• For details, please refer to Section 50 of the Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (Legislative Council) Regulation (Cap. 541D).

Checklist for Electors

• According to the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance (Cap. 554) enforced by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (“ICAC”), an elector MUST NOT within Hong Kong or elsewhere:
  1. Solicit or accept any advantage (including money, gift, etc.), food, drink or entertainment from any person for not voting at an election, or voting or not voting for a particular candidate or particular candidates.
  2. Offer any advantage (including money, gift, etc.), food, drink or entertainment to any person as an inducement to or a reward for the latter not to vote at an election, or to vote or not to vote for a particular candidate or particular candidates.
  3. Use or threaten to use force or duress against any person for inducing the latter to vote or not to vote at an election, or to vote or not to vote for a particular candidate or particular candidates.
  4. Induce any person by deception to vote or not to vote for a particular candidate or particular candidates at an election, or not to vote at an election, or obstruct or prevent any person by deception from voting at an election.
  5. Vote at an election knowing that you are not entitled to do so.
  6. Vote at an election after having knowingly or recklessly given false or misleading information (e.g. false principal residential address) to an electoral officer.
• ICAC has set up a Clean Election Website and provides relevant information (in both English and Chinese). Please visit www.icac.org.hk/elections.
• The following actions are also prohibited:
  1. Communicate with other electors including showing your vote on the ballot paper to others or use mobile telephones or any other device for electronic communication within a polling station.
  2. Film, take photographs or make any audio or video recording within a polling station.
  3. Ask other electors to mark your ballot paper. In case of need, you may request the Presiding Officer to mark your ballot paper in the presence of a polling officer.
  4. Interfere with other electors who are casting their votes.