Nominations for HKSAR 7th-term LegCo election to start on Oct 30

HONG KONG - The nomination period for the seventh-term Legislative Council (LegCo) election in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will run from Oct 30 to Nov 12, the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) of the HKSAR government said Friday.

The LegCo election will be held on Dec 19. A total of 90 members, including 20 from geographical constituencies, 30 from functional constituencies and 40 from the Election Committee constituency, will be returned.

"To run for a seat in a geographical constituency, a functional constituency or the Election Committee constituency, a nominee must be a registered geographical constituency elector aged 21 or above," a spokesman for the REO said.

"He/she must also have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the three years immediately preceding the date of his/her nomination," the spokesman said, among other requirements.

The spokesman noted that the Electoral Affairs Commission has appointed Returning Officers for the 10 geographical constituencies, 28 functional constituencies and the Election Committee constituency in the election.

Completed nomination forms and the election deposit must be submitted by the nominees in person to the respective Returning Officers within the nomination period.

Nominations are accepted between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm local time from Mondays to Fridays and between 9:00 am and noon local time on Saturdays.

According to a relevant regulation, in deciding whether a candidate is validly nominated for a constituency, the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee (CERC) may require the candidate to furnish any other information that the CERC considers appropriate to be satisfied that the candidate is eligible to be nominated as a candidate or otherwise as to the validity of the nomination.

The CERC now requests each nominee to complete and return the "Candidate Eligibility Review Supplementary Information Form."

"Nominees are advised to submit their nominations as early as possible to allow time to correct mistakes, if any, in the nomination forms before the deadline," the spokesman added.