Constitution and Administration 9
The Electoral System
Electoral System for the Legislative Council
Under the Basic Law, the Legislative Council of the HKSAR is constituted by elections. The Basic Law also provides that the method for its formation shall be specified in the light of the actual situation in the HKSAR and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The Basic Law also provides that the ultimate aim is the election of all members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage. The composition of the first three terms of the Legislative Council as set out in the Basic Law is as follows:
Membership
First term (1998-2000)
Third term (2004-2008)
Second term (2000-2004)
(a) elected by geographical
constituencies through direct elections
20
24
30
(b) elected by functional
30
30
30
constituencies
(c) elected by an election.
committee
10
6
60
60
60
The Basic Law provides that if there is a need to amend the method for the formation of the Legislative Council after 2007, such amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the members of the Legislative Council and the consent of the Chief Executive, and they shall be reported to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the record.
Geographical Constituency
Geographical constituency elections are held on the basis of universal suffrage. All eligible persons aged 18 or above have the right to be registered as electors and to vote in the elections. There are currently about 3 million registered electors.
The HKSAR is divided into five geographical constituencies of four to eight seats in the third term of the Legislative Council. Voters choose lists of candidates, using the List Voting System which operates under the Largest Remainder formula, a form of proportional representation. Under this system, each list may consist of any number of candidates up to the number of seats in the relevant constituency. An elector is entitled to cast one vote for a list in the constituency in which he or she is registered. The seats for the constituency are distributed among the lists according to the number of votes they get.
Any permanent resident of the HKSAR who is a Chinese citizen with no right of abode in any foreign country may stand for election in any geographical constituency,