Arrangements for tomorrow’s (Sunday’s) polling to select members of the Chief Executive Election Committee were in place, noted the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Chief Executive Election.

The Commission’s President, Ms Song Man Lei, made the observations in comments to reporters after inspecting preparations and facilities relating to the three polling stations that will be used for the voting to choose members of the Chief Executive Election Committee.

Ms Song said the Commission was dedicating every effort to ensuring a smooth electoral process. She also called on the voters concerned to exercise their civic duty in tomorrow’s election.

The three stations for the polling are: the Macao Polytechnic Institute Multisport Pavilion (for the industrial, commercial and financial sub-sectors, and the education sub-sector); the Macau Forum (for the professional, sports and social service sub-sectors); and the Escola Luso-Chinesa Técnico-Profissional (for the cultural and labour sub-sectors). The polling stations are open from 9am to 6pm tomorrow.

Ms Song said ballot counting would be carried out in those venues and would be conducted once polling closed at 6pm. She added that the Commission would announce the preliminary result in a timely manner.

In her remarks to the media, Ms Song issued a reminder that voters should attend the polling station corresponding to the sub-sector they represented and for which they were allowed to choose a representative.

Voters were required to present an appropriate identification document as well as a document verifying their right to exercise the power to vote. Should the latter document be absent, it could be reissued by presenting the voter’s identification document via a support centre affiliated to his or her corresponding polling station.  

Ms Song issued a reminder that voters should cast a ballot where the number of candidates chosen did not exceed the number of attributed seats in their relevant sector or sub-sector. Were such guidelines not followed, the resulting vote would be considered a void ballot.

An aggregate of 5,735 voters – representing a total of 569 legal-person voters – are eligible to vote tomorrow. A total of 1,256 people can cast ballots at Macao Polytechnic Institute’s Multisport Pavilion. A further 2,796 are to vote in the Macau Forum building; and 1,683 voters are entitled to use the voting facilities at the Escola Luso-Chinesa Técnico-Profissional. More than 400 electoral affairs officers have been assigned to the polling process for the Chief Executive Election Committee.