The Hong Kong Electoral Affairs Commission announced at predawn
hours Monday that the counting of ballots in the third-term
District Council election was completed as 364 candidates won in
their contested constituencies.
The announcement by the Electoral Affairs Commission came at
about 4:45 a.m. local time Monday (2045 GMT Sunday) as it took more
than five hours to complete the ballots-counting process, which
began at 22:30 (1430 GMT) Sunday immediately after the voting
ended.
More than 1.14 million registered voters cast their votes in the
election for the third-term District Council in the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), about 70,000 more than those
in the 2003 election, according to the Electoral Affairs
Commission.
Hong Kong has 18 District Councils and the third-term District
Councils are composed of 534 members, including 405 elected
members, 102 appointed members and 27 ex-officio members.
Candidates in 41 of the 405 constituencies have been elected
unopposed while the remaining 364 seats in the 18 District Councils
were contested by 866 candidates.
The District Council election adopts the first-past-the post
voting system, under which the candidate who receives the largest
number of votes will be elected. All Hong Kong permanent residents
aged 18 or above who are ordinarily residing in Hong Kong are
eligible to register as electors.
The functions of district councils include advising the HKSAR
government on matters affecting the well-being of the people in the
district and the use of public funds allocated to the district for
local public works and community activities.
Where funds are made available, a district council will also
undertake environmental improvements and the promotion of
recreational and cultural activities as well as community
activities.
Voting began from 7:30 a.m. (2330 GMT Saturday) and ended at 22:
30 Sunday (1430 GMT Sunday) as 1.14 million voters, including HKSAR
Chief Executive Donald Tsang, flocked to 480 polling stations to
cast their votes.
"The polling for our third-term District Council has come to a
successful ending," said HKSAR Chief Executive Donald Tsang after
the voting ended, "it is a fair, open and just election under the
full-scale coverage by the press and the observation by the
public.
"The election shows citizens in Hong Kong have good traditions
and the election system has been respected," Tsang said, "I hope
the new elected District Council members to try their best in their
work to help the HKSAR government build more harmonious and more
beautiful communities."
The ballot counting started at 22:30 Sunday (1430 GMT Sunday)
under the observation of candidates and the public. Local
televisions broadcast live the results of ballots-counting for all
the polling stations.
The term of office for the third term district councils will
start from Jan. 1, 2008 and end on Dec. 31, 2011.
(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2007)
