ENG-1999 — Page 45

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

elector is entitled to cast one vote for a list. The seats for the constituency will be distributed among the lists according to the number of votes obtained by the respective lists.

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, provided that he or she is a registered elector on the Final Register, has attained the age of 21, and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the preceding three years. Electors may vote only in the constituency in which they are registered.

(b) Functional Constituency

Each functional constituency represents an economic, social, or professional group which is substantial and important to the HKSAR. For the second term of the Legislative Council, these are (1) Heung Yee Kuk; (2) agriculture and fisheries; (3) insurance; (4) transport; (5) education; (6) legal; (7) accountancy; (8) medical; (9) health services; (10) engineering; (11) architectural, surveying and planning; (12) labour; (13) social welfare; (14) real estate and construction; (15) tourism; (16) commercial (first); (17) commercial (second); (18) industrial (first); (19) industrial (second); (20) finance; (21) financial services; (22) sports, performing arts, culture and publication; (23) import and export; (24) textiles and garment; (25) wholesale and retail; (26) information technology; (27) catering; and (28) District Council. The labour functional constituency returns three Legislative Council members and the other 27 functional constituencies return one member each.

Functional constituencies which represent professional groups have electorates based on membership of those professions with well-established and recognised qualifications, including statutory qualifications. Each individual member has one vote. The electorates of functional constituencies representing economic or social groups are generally made up of corporate members of major organisations representative of the relevant sectors. Each corporate member appoints an authorised representative to cast the vote on its behalf in an election.

To become a candidate in the functional constituencies, one must satisfy the same age and residential requirements as in a geographical constituency election, be a registered elector on the Final Register, and also a registered elector of or have a substantial connection with the relevant functional constituency. To give due recognition to the significant contribution made by foreign nationals and the fact that Hong Kong is an international city, permanent residents of the HKSAR who are not of Chinese nationality or who have the right of abode in foreign countries may stand for election in 12 designated functional constituencies (i.e. functional constituencies Nos. 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23 mentioned above). Elections for functional constituencies (except functional constituencies Nos. 1 to 4) are determined by simple majority, i.e. the candidate which obtains the most votes will be elected. For functional constituencies Nos. 1 to 4, the preferential elimination system is used. Under this system, an elector is entitled to cast one vote. The vote is transferable amongst the candidates marked on a ballot paper if the elector marks his preferences for more than one candidate. A candidate who obtains an absolute majority of the votes will be elected. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority, the candidate with the least number of votes will be eliminated and that candidate's votes will be transferred to other candidates in accordance with the preferences marked on

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