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news.gov.hk  
 From Hong Kong's Information Services Department
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September 11, 2004
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Election
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LegCo polls fair, clean: Justice Woo
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Sunday's Legislative Council election will be fair, open and graft-free, Electoral Affairs Commission chief Justice Woo Kwok-hing says, adding that recent claims of intimidation and harassment are groundless.

 

Speaking on a radio talk show today, Justice Woo said among the 697 election-related complaints received so far, 242 are about disturbances caused by candidates' publicity campaigns, and only one was associated with intimidation.

 

The figures have proved the claims are without grounds, and voters need not to worry about the issue, he added.

 

Justice Woo said such claims will affect voters' confidence and Hong Kong's reputation. Therefore, the public should report to the Police or the Independent Commission Against Corruption for further investigation if they feel intimidated or harassed.

 

Electors urged to cast votes

He also called on electors to cast their votes tomorrow. To ensure the secrecy of votes, electors are prohibited to use mobile phones, pagers, video and photographic equipment inside polling stations.

 

Justice Woo said polling station staff will remind electors of the arrangement, and believe the polling station design will help ensure the secrecy of ballots.

 

On vote counting, Justice Woo said almost all the voting stations will be converted into counting stations after the close of polling hours to facilitate counting of votes for geographical constituencies.

 

As the number of electors of 16 polling stations will be lower than 500, ballots received at these stations will transported to other stations for counting.

 

Ballot counting process will not take long

For the functional constituencies, all ballots will be sent to the central counting station in Kowloon Bay. Justice Woo anticipated the vote counting process will not take long.

 

A total of 501 polling stations will be open from 7.30am to 10.30pm for more than 3.2 million registered electors to cast their votes tomorrow. For details of the candidates, polling and counting stations, as well as exit pollsters, click here.

 

A mock polling station has been set up at Leighton Hill Community Hall, 133 Wong Nai Chung Road, Hong Kong to help electors understand the entire polling process, which is open and fair.

 

It will open to the public today from 9am to 5pm.