The Registration & Electoral Office will conduct a detailed examination of the ballot paper accounts of all 501 polling stations.

Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam said the move, involving several Functional Constituencies, is to see whether figures tally with the number of votes counted during the 2004 Legislative Council Election.

On the issue of Presiding Officers opening some ballot boxes, Mr Lam said the decision was taken by the Electoral Affairs Commission which has the statutory power to do so in the presence of witnesses.

He refuted media reports alleging the Constitutional Affairs Bureau made the decision, and said the commission will meet the media tomorrow to give further information on the two issues.

Mr Lam also said the commission will thoroughly investigate complaints from some election agents claiming they were told to leave polling stations at 10.30pm on election day.