Voting kicks off in Hong Kong's LegCo election

Voting for Hong Kong's eighth-term Legislative Council General Election began at 7:30 am on Sunday, with residents casting their ballots amid smooth operations at polling stations across the city.

A total 161 nominees are vying for seats, with 90 lawmakers to be elected. The races have 51 candidates competing for 20 directly elected geographical seats, 60 vying for 30 functional constituency seats, and the remaining 50 contesting 40 Election Committee seats.

Polling hours for this election have been extended from 14 to 16 hours, and will run until 11:30 pm. Authorities have set up 612 ordinary polling stations, primarily located in schools, community facilities, and government premises.

Designated polling stations have also been introduced to accommodate voters with specific needs.

These designated stations include 10 for civil servants, seven for Hospital Authority healthcare employees near the seven largest hospitals, and two near the Wan Chai Khalsa Diwan Sikh Temple and Kowloon Masjid, to serve ethnic-minority voters.

In addition, three outreach polling stations for residential-care homes have been arranged to serve elderly-care homes and homes for those with disabilities. To maximize convenience, six near-boundary polling stations are operating in Sheung Shui, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Passenger Clearance Building, and Hong Kong International Airport.

Because of the recent Tai Po fire, three polling stations have been relocated. Stations originally at Tai Po Baptist Public School, Kwong Fuk Community Hall, and Tai Po Community Centre have been relocated to Hong Kong Teachers' Association Lee Heng Kwei Secondary School, Sung Tak Wong Kin Sheung Memorial School, and Law Ting Pong Secondary School respectively.

The Registration and Electoral Office has arranged free shuttle-bus services during polling hours to assist affected voters.