Hong Kong Regulations

BOUNDARY AND ELECTION COMMISSION (ELECTORAL PROCEDURE) (GEOGRAPHICAL CONSTITUENCIES) REGULATION - SECT 20

Duties of the Chief Electoral Officer in relation to polling stations

Caution: This is a past version. See the current version here.

(1) As regards an election, the Chief Electoral Officer shall-

        (a)	appoint a person ("the presiding officer") to preside at each 
polling station and such other persons as he considers necessary to assist
the presiding officer in the conduct of a poll; (L.N. 221 of 1995)

   (b)  at least 10 days before the polling day, send to each elector entitled
        to vote at that polling station a poll card; (L.N. 221 of 1995)

   (c)  after the publication of a notice of nomination under section  12 , or
        on being satisfied that a nomination paper in respect of a candidate
        has been received by the returning officer, subject to subsection (1A)
        supply to each- (L.N. 221 of 1995)

        (i)    candidate an extract of that part of the final register which
               relates to the constituency in respect of which the candidate
               is nominated containing such entries and particulars and in
               such form as may be determined by the Chief Electoral Officer
               (which may include a printed form or a form capable of being
               read by a computer) and containing such additional information
               (if any), so determined; and (L.N. 656 of 1994; L.N. 221 of
               1995)

        (ii)   returning officer, a copy of that part of the final register
               which relates to the constituency or District, as the case may
               be, in respect of which that officer is appointed;

   (d)  provide in each polling station such number of compartments as he
        considers necessary for use by the electors to vote screened from
        observation;

   (e)  supply to each presiding officer such number of ballot papers as he
        considers necessary and a copy of the appropriate part of the final
        register; (L.N. 221 of 1995)

   (f)  provide at each polling station materials to enable electors to mark
        the ballot papers; and (L.N. 221 of 1995)

   (g)  do such other acts and things as are necessary for holding the poll
        effectively. (L.N. 221 of 1995)

(1A) Where an extract of the part of the final register required under
subsection (1)(c)(i) to be supplied to a candidate is supplied to the election
agent of the candidate, it shall be regarded for the purposes of that
subsection as having been supplied to the candidate. (L.N. 221 of 1995)

(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall provide-

   (a)  the returning officer; and

   (b)  each presiding officer, with a list of the names of the persons
        appointed under subsection (1)(a) in respect of the polling station
        for which that presiding officer is appointed. (L.N. 221 of 1995)

(3) A presiding officer shall display the list referred to in subsection (2)
in a prominent place in the polling station for which he is appointed. (L.N.
221 of 1995)

(4) An elector who is not otherwise entitled to vote at a specified polling
station and who claims-

   (a)  to be a person with a disability; and

   (b)  that access to the polling station at which he is entitled to vote is
        difficult for him due to such disability, may apply to the Chief
        Electoral Officer, not less than 5 days before the polling day, to
        vote at the specified polling station designated for the constituency
        in respect of which he is entitled to vote. (L.N. 221 of 1995)

(5) Where the Chief Electoral Officer receives an application under subsection
(4)-

   (a)  he may allocate the relevant specified polling station to the elector
        concerned if he is satisfied that the application is well founded; and

   (b)  he shall in any case inform the applicant, in such manner as he
        considers appropriate, of the result of the application as soon as
        practicable.

(6) Any elector who is allocated a specified polling station under subsection
(5) shall, as regards the election to which the relevant application relates,
only be entitled to vote at that specified polling station.

(7) Where the Chief Electoral Officer allocates a specified polling station to
an elector under subsection (5), he shall as soon as practicable thereafter,
notify the returning officer, the presiding  officer at that specified polling
station and the presiding officer at the polling station at which the elector
would have been entitled to vote if not for such allocation, the identity card
number, name and residential address (as it appears in the register of
electors) of that elector.

(8) The requirement in subsection (1)(b) to send a poll card shall not apply
in relation to an elector as regards whom the Chief Electoral Officer is
satisfied-

   (a)  having regard to any information received from the Registrar of Births
        and Deaths, that he is dead; or

   (b)  that his address on the final register does not exist or refers to a
        building that has been demolished or is not at that time built. (L.N.
        221 of 1995) (Enacted 1994)