District council polling time cut by one hour
Public voting for December's revamped district council elections will start an hour later than it did in the last polls in 2019, the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) said on Thursday.  Some 600 polling stations across the territory will be open from 8.30am to 10.30pm on December 10. David Lok, who chairs the EAC, said the shortened voting time is the same as that for the 2021 Legislative Council elections.  “We do not have a full consultation, and also because of the fact that there have been a lot of changes in terms of the composition of the district councils, and also in terms of the election system,” he said.  “That is the reason why we think that the most prudent way forward, to proceed this time, is to keep the polling time, which the public is familiar with in the Legco election.” Eighteen polling stations will be open for six hours from 8.30am for those selecting members of the newly established District Committees constituency. Lok said ballot counting will only commence when voting for the direct elections ends.  The vast majority of the 470 members of the city's district councils will be picked by the government or government-appointed bodies. The public will get to choose 88 councillors, down from more than 450 in 2019.  In guidelines to district care teams, the Home Affairs Department said members who seek to run in elections must immediately stop all work and cannot utilise any team resources for their bids. "With the existing guidelines issued to the care teams, and also with the existing guidelines and election legislation, we believe that it will be adequate," Lok said.  "Care team is still a very new organisation. We certainly have to review how it operates, and how it affects or impacts the election. In future elections, we will certainly review the whole situation and to make further guidelines if necessary."