The nomination period for the 2026 Election Committee Subsector Ordinary Elections closed on Tuesday after receiving 1,115 candidate nomination forms for the 982 seats.

Another 40 nomination forms from designated bodies were also submitted to the Returning Officers during the nomination period, which opened on Oct 7.

The election for the 1,500-member Election Committee will be held on Nov 22. Alongside the 982 elected seats, the committee has 156 seats nominated by designated bodies and 362 ex-officio members, including Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress, members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and all 90 local lawmakers.

A dedicated committee will review the eligibility of candidates and publish the list of accepted candidates within 14 days after the nomination period. If the number of validly nominated candidates for a subsector exceeds the number of seats to be elected by that subsector, a poll will be held on voting day.

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Official data showed that 31 of the 36 subsectors received more applications than available seats.

All 18 subsectors in the first sector — industrial, commercial and financial — were oversubscribed, while several subsectors in the remaining four sectors also faced contests. Many subsectors received an excessive number of applications on the first day of the nomination period.

Five subsectors — education; sports, performing arts, culture and publication; associations of Chinese fellow townsmen; labour; and representatives of Hong Kong members of relevant national organizations — received exactly as many nominations as seats.

Serving a five-year term, the Election Committee is in charge of nominating candidates for the position of chief executive as well as the Legislative Council members, and is responsible for electing the chief executive and 40 lawmakers.

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The Election Committee will begin its new term on Feb 1, 2027. Its first major task will be to hold the chief executive election, scheduled for March.

Contact the writer at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com