HONG KONG, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Fifth Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) Election was held on Sunday. A total of 70 members, 35 from geographical constituencies and 35 from functional constituencies, will be returned.
The number of seats in the new LegCo term, spanning from 2012 to 2016, increased by ten, with five to be contested in the five geographical constituencies, while the other five to be elected directly in the new functional constituency for district councils, which was dubbed as "super seats".
In the elections, a total of 67 lists of 216 candidates are running for 35 seats in five geographical constituencies under the proportional representation formula while another 37 candidates are competing for 14 seats in 14 contested functional constituencies.
Sixteen candidates in 14 functional constituencies are returned uncontested. Therefore, about 23,000 electors in these functional constituencies do not have to vote.
There are more than 3.46 million registered electors for the election. With the introduction of the new functional constituency for district councils, about 3.22 million electors can cast one ballot each in their respective geographical constituency and another for the "super seats".
About 218,000 registered electors of the 14 contested functional constituencies can vote for their respective functional constituency while casting another vote in their respective geographical constituency.
With the introduction of the District Council functional constituency, the "one-person-two-votes" arrangement was implemented in the election.
A total of 549 ordinary polling stations and 25 dedicated polling stations across Hong Kong were open on the polling day for registered electors to cast their votes. The polling hours for the ordinary polling stations are from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
The LegCo is the Legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). Under the Basic Law, the SAR is vested with legislative power and LegCo is the legislature of the Region. The main functions of LegCo are to enact laws, control public expenditure, and monitor the work of the government. LegCo is also given the power to endorse the appointment and removal of the judges of the Court of Final Appeal and the Chief Judge of the High Court, as well as the power to impeach the Chief Executive.
The Fourth LegCo consists of 60 members, with 30 of them returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections and the other 30 returned by functional constituencies.
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