A new regulation on the procedures of printing specified particulars of Legislative Council election candidates on ballot papers was gazetted today.

The Particulars Relating to Candidates on Ballot Papers (Legislative Council) Regulation will be tabled in LegCo on December 17.

Specified particulars that can be printed on ballot papers include:

* registered names and emblems of prescribed bodies;

* registered emblems of prescribed persons;

* words indicating that a candidate is independent or non-affiliated; and,

* personal photographs of candidates.

The arrangement will make it easier for electors to identify candidates of their choice before they cast their votes, the Electoral Affairs Commission said.

A prescribed body intending to support a candidate can apply to the commission for the registration of its name, the abbreviation of its name and its emblem.

A prescribed person intending to run in a LegCo election can apply to register their emblem with the commission.

For the coming LegCo elections, applications for registration by a prescribed body or a prescribed person should be made on or before March 1 after the regulation comes into effect.

If the commission accepts an application, it will publish a notice in the gazette. Anyone can raise an objection within 21 days. The commission will then conduct a hearing to hear representations and examine the relevant materials before making a final decision.

Following the decision to grant an application, the commission will again publish a notice in the gazette.

A register of the relevant particulars in respect of the registered names and emblems of prescribed bodies and the registered emblems of prescribed persons will be established for public inspection at the Registration & Electoral Office.