CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
32
During the year, district board electoral boundaries were revised, with over 40 double- seat constituencies split into single-seat constituencies. For the district board elections to be held in March 1991, there will be 210 constituencies, comprising 108 constituencies in the 10 districts in the Urban Council area and 102 constituencies in the nine districts in the Regional Council area. The total number of elected district board members will increase from 264 to 274.
For Urban Council elections, the number of constituencies remains at 15, each being a single-seat constituency made up of a number of district board constituencies in the Urban Council area. The Regional Council has 12 single-seat constituencies, each made up of a number of district board constituencies in the Regional Council area. There are altogether 15 elected Urban Councillors and 12 elected Regional Councillors. The next elections to these two councils are due in May 1991.
An elector may vote only in the constituency in which he has been registered. He may, however, stand for election to the Urban Council, the Regional Council or a district board in any constituency, provided he has been resident in Hong Kong for the preceding 10 or more years and his nomination is supported by 10 electors in that constituency. Election is by simple majority.
Electoral System for the Legislative Council
The system for indirect election to the Legislative Council, first introduced in 1985, involves an electoral college and nine functional constituencies. The electoral college comprises two special constituencies, that is, the Urban Council and the Regional Council, and 10 district board constituencies, each returning one member to the Legislative Council. The functional constituencies, covering the commercial, industrial, labour, social services, medical and health care, finance and accountancy, teaching, legal and engineering and associated professions sectors, return a total of 14 members.
The franchise for Legislative Council elections is as follows: for the electoral college, an elector must be a member of the Urban Council, the Regional Council or a district board making up the respective district board constituencies; for functional constituencies, an elector who is an individual must have been registered under the Electoral Provisions Ordinance for the Urban Council, Regional Council and district board elections and be a member of an organisation forming part of the relevant constituency. No person may be registered in more than one functional constituency even if he is eligible. An elector who is not an individual must nominate a person not already an elector in his own right in the same constituency to be its authorised representative to vote at an election. That person may not be the authorised representative of another elector in the same or any other constituency. However, if eligible, a person may be registered to vote both in the electoral college and in the functional constituency to which he belongs apart from voting as an authorised representative. For 1990, the number of electors registered in the electoral college and the functional constituencies stands at 464 and 58 540 respectively, compared to the corresponding potential electorate of 466 and 103 931 respectively.
The qualifications for candidature are simple: for an electoral constituency, any person who is an elector registered under the Electoral Provisions Ordinance (and not necessarily an elector in any electoral college constituency) and who has been resident in Hong Kong for the preceding 10 or more years, may be nominated if supported by five electors in that constituency; for a functional constituency, any person who is an elector registered under