A total of 109 nominations for 162 candidates were received for the 2004 Legislative Council (LegCo) election of Hong Kong during the two-week nomination period which ended Wednesday, according to a government press release.

During the nomination period which started on July 22, a total of 37 candidate lists consisting of 90 candidates submitted nominations for geographical constituency polls, and 72 candidates came forward for functional constituency polls.

According to the Basic Law, the third term of the LegCo in Hong Kong will have 60 councilors, 30 of which being elected directly, six more than that of the second LegCo, and the other 30 chosen through functional constituency polls.

The names of all validly nominated candidates for the election will be published in the Government Gazette on Aug. 13 after validation of candidates has been carried out by Returning Officers of the respective geographical or functional constituencies.

So far 3.2 million Hongkongers have registered as voters, among which 240,000 people are newly registered ones.

The third LegCo election is dated on Sept. 12 and its term willbegin on Oct. 1.

Source: Xinhua