Election Brief

• Polling Date and Hours
• Nomination Period
• Who can Vote?
• Why Vote?
• Voting System
• Where to Vote?
• How to Vote?
• Document(s) Required for Collecting Ballot Paper
• Checklist for Electors
• Facilitation Measures for Electors with Special Needs

Polling Date and Hours

• Polling day:  24 November 2019 (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:  4 to 17 October 2019
• Nomination forms can be downloaded from the Registration and Electoral Office (“REO”) website (www.reo.gov.hk), or collected 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)

Who can Vote?

• All Hong Kong permanent residents aged 18 or above who are ordinarily residing in Hong Kong are eligible to register as electors.
• Registered electors whose names have been included in the Final Register of Electors for Geographical Constituencies published in September 2019 may cast their vote in the election.

Why Vote?

• To elect a District Council member who can represent your interests and advise the Government on district affairs.
• To exercise your civic rights and fulfill your civic responsibilities.

Voting System

• Each elector shall vote for only one candidate in respective constituency. The candidate who receives the largest number of valid votes in the constituency will be elected.

Where to Vote?

• Each elector 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 will be issued to the respective electors at least 10 days before the polling day.
• Whether the polling station allocated to an elector is accessible to electors 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 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 19 November 2019 (Tuesday).

How to Vote?

• Bring the original of your Hong Kong Identity Card (“HKID”) or other specified alternative document(s) (please refer to the section “Document(s) Required for Collecting Ballot Paper” below for details) to your designated polling station on 24 November 2019 (Sunday) during the polling hours (7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.).
• Present the original of your HKID 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 one ballot paper and one cardboard to which a "" (tick) chop is attached.
• You must mark your ballot paper inside a voting compartment. Please follow the instructions given by polling staff as well as those printed on the ballot paper and notices inside the compartment.
• You must use the chop attached to the cardboard to stamp a "" (tick) on the ballot paper in the circle opposite the name of the candidate of your choice.
• After marking the ballot paper, please fold the ballot paper once so that the marked side is inside to conceal the "" (tick) before putting it into the ballot box.
• Illustration on Guidance on Voting Procedure
Notes:
1. Vote for ONE candidate only on the ballot paper.
2. You must use the chop provided. Do NOT use a pen or any other means to mark or amend your ballot paper. This will render your vote invalid.
3. If you make any mistake in affixing the chop on a ballot paper or have advertently spoiled a ballot paper, you may return it to the Presiding Officer and ask for a replacement.

Document(s) Required for Collecting Ballot Paper

• With effect from 10 December 2018, a person applying for a ballot paper should produce the original of his/her Hong Kong Identity Card (“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 53 of the Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (District Councils) Regulation (Cap. 541F).

Checklist for Electors

• The following actions are prohibited:
  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.
  2. Offer any advantage, 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.
  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.
  4. Vote at an election knowing that you are not entitled to do so.
  5. Vote at an election after having knowingly or recklessly given false or misleading information (e.g. false principal residential address) to an electoral officer.
  6. 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.
  7. Film, take photographs or make any audio or video recording within a polling station.
  8. 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.
  9. Interfere with other electors who are casting their votes.