Polling for the upcoming Hong Kong Legislative Council election will commence at 7:30 am and end at 11:30 pm on Dec 7, two hours longer than the last time in 2021.

In addition to 615 general polling stations, to encourage voting, the government has, for the first time, introduced designated polling stations for elderly, disabled, medical staff, ethnic minorities and civil servants and disciplined services personnel on duty.

On Friday, Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission David Lok Kai-hong said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will provide assistance and facilitation to civil servants, medical staff at public hospitals and ethnic minorities for voting.  

Lok said the new arrangements aim at “taking a step further” so that no voters would be discouraged from voting.  He pledged to review the arrangement after the election, saying it will not be permanent if the effectiveness is not significant.

In a pilot arrangement, a total of 10 designated polling stations for civil servants will also be erected citywide to provide convenience for nearby civil servants and on-duty disciplined services personnel.

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In addition, seven polling stations will be established for medical personnel outside seven hospitals.

Two more polling stations for ethnic minorities will be set up in Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui to allow those who plan to visit the Khalsa Diwan Sikh Temple and the Kowloon Mosque for religious rituals on Sunday to vote.

Three polling stations will also be established near the boundary at Sheung Shui, the Hong Kong Port of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the airport.

In addition, polling stations will be set up outside 11 elderly nursing homes and four district support centers for persons with disabilities.

Earlier, the government announced to hand out a one-off HK$20,000 ($2,574) allowance for District Support Centres for Persons with Disabilities and Elderly Centres to arrange transportation for the elderly, the disabled and their caretakers to the polling stations.

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Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan told media that the bureau has sent instructions to all bureau and department heads to establish a support center at their respective departments on polling day in order to mobilize extra hands to help out and take all necessary measures to facilitate civil servants’ voting.

Yeung said over 30,000 civil servants would be responsible for polling day, while another 20,000 would be working on Sunday as well.

She estimated that it would involve another 10,000 staff to cope with the contingency arrangements at various service points.

The bureau has asked various public departments and bureaus to make an arrangement for those on duty on Sunday to briefly leave their posts one by one to cast their votes in an orderly manner, including allowing those on duty to “vote first and work later” or take an early leave at work to cast their ballots in a bid to save commuting time.

Those on duty on Sunday will be granted compensation leave or overtime allowance.

On Dec 6, the day before the polling day, a gala build the momentum for voting is slated to take place at West Kowloon Cultural District. The government-hosted show, which will feature a performance of the election theme song by over 70 artists from show business, is to be aired by seven local broadcasters. Free tickets will be handed out to the public, with detailed arrangement to be unveiled later.

Dec 7 will see a total of 161 candidates contesting a seat in the 90-strong legislature. From the pool of candidates, 51 will go head-to-head for 20 directly elected seats that are allocated two per geographical constituency across the city; 60 hopefuls will vie for 30 functional constituency seats, while the other 50 will contest the 40-strong Election Committee constituency.