Hong Kong Electoral Affairs Commission Chairman Justice Woo Kwok-hing reiterated Wednesday the Legislative Council (LegCo) polls on Sunday were conducted in an open, fair and honest manner.

At a press conference, he apologized for the inconvenience caused by insufficient ballot boxes, clarifying he did not blame electors for the problem. Ballot boxes opened during the polling hours were handled according to the law, he added.

Voting for the third term of Legislative Council was conducted on Sunday, during which more then 1.78 million Hong Kong residents cast their ballots. The turnout rate reached 55.63 percent.

Justice Woo admitted the design of ballot boxes and ballot papers and the logistics in supplying extra ballot boxes to polling stations may not have been ideal.

About 2,000 extra ballot boxes were used on Sunday, and so far no voters have lodged complaints about not being able to cast ballots due to box arrangements.

Woo said his commission will make trial use of the newly designed ballot boxes before they are formally put into operation in the future elections.

He said over 15,000 public servants with neutral political stance participated in the votes counting and the situation of biased help to any candidates would not appear.

However, he said the commission will conduct a comprehensive review of the election, and submit it to the Chief Executive within three months. The findings will help improve future election arrangements.

Source: Xinhua