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Systems of voting
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53.
Systems elsewhere present a very wide variety
In Hong Kong, the "first past
of methods of voting.
the post" system is used in District Board elections,
under which a simple majority is all that is required;
"repeated ballots" are used in the electoral college
constituencies (under which ballots are repeated until
one candidate gets absolute majority support); and the
"preferential voting system" is used in the functional
constituency elections for the Legislative Council.
54.
The objective must be to find a simple and
clear system, which is fair to the electorate and to
the candidates, Critical factors include the size of
constituencies and the number of seats, and hence the
number of potential candidates, and the effects that
these factors may have on the voting machinery and the
comprehension of the electorate.
55.
If direct elections were introduced on a
territory-wide basis, and on the assumption that there
would be several seats and a large number of
candidates, any system more complex than "first
"first past
the post" (a simple majority) would be likely to be
confusing to
complicated to handle, and would probably require the
introduction of computer-based' voting machinery. This
degree of sophistication does not in the context and at
this stage seem appropriate:
the
electorate,
administratively
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