Over 2.28 million registered electors throughout Hong Kong started to cast their votes in the first District Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Sunday morning.

This was the first District Councils election that has ever been held in Hong Kong since China resumed the exercise of its sovereignty over it, making it an SAR on July 1, 1997.

Noting the views collected during a public consultation exercise on the review of the municipal councils and district boards in June and July 1998, the SAR government decided that the structure for delivery of municipal services should be overhauled after the terms of office of the members of the Provisional Municipal Councils expire by the end of 1999.

The District Administration Scheme commenced in 1982 with the establishment of a District Board and a District Management Committee in each district.

From July 1, 1997, 18 Provisional District Boards, with 469 members appointed by Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa, replaced the former District Boards.

The majority of people have favored retaining the District Boards. It was believed that the boards should be kept and renamed "District Councils" when their members' terms of office expire on December 31, 1999.

It was also believed that the new District Councils should be given extra resources and responsibilities to enhance their role in advising on food and environmental hygiene and organizing and subsidizing cultural and recreational activities at the district level.

The Legislative Council adopted a bill on the development of District Councils on March 11, 1999.

Under the bill, the first District Councils election of the HKSAR will be held in November with the number of elected members to be determined on the basis of one elected seat per 17,000 residents.

The bill stipulates that a District Council will be established for each of the 18 districts to replace the corresponding Provisional District Boards.

The main function of the District Council is to advise the government on matters affecting the well-being of the people in the district, the provision and use of public facilities and services within the district, and the adequacy and priorities of the government programs for the district.

The council is also to advise the government on matters relating to the use of public funds allocated to the district for local public works and community activities and matters relating to food and environmental hygiene services.

According to the bill, a District Council is to be composed of 3 categories of members, namely, elected members, ex-officio members and appointed members.

The Legislative Council meeting had a heated debate on the number of elected seats. The total number of elected seats was increased from 346 before 1997 to 390.

For the first term of District Council members, there will be a total 519 members, comprising 390 elected members, 102 appointed members and 27 ex-officio members.

The new District Councils will have a four-year term starting from January 1, 2000.

On June 2, 1999, the Hong Kong Electoral Affairs Commission laid down a regulation on the procedure for the District Councils election, including the publication of a voter register, the nomination of candidates, polling arrangements and the counting of ballots.

The regulation was drawn up after the commission considered all the public views received during a public consultation exercise on its proposed electoral guidelines between April 12 and May 11, 1999.

On June 3, 1999, Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa announced the SAR's first District Councils election would be held on November 28.

On September 17, the Registration and Electoral Office announced the locations of 539 polling stations and 18 district counting stations designated for the 1999 District Councils election.

There are 390 constituencies in 18 districts to return a total of 390 District Council members, and more than 2.83 million electors were informed of the address of their designated polling station near their home.

The nominations for District Councils election started on October 7, 1999, and by the end of the two-week nomination period, a total 798 candidates were verified to have been validly nominated. Candidates in 76 of the 390 constituencies have been returned unopposed. As a result, polling will be conducted in 314 constituencies which have an electorate of about 2.28 million.

To ensure the District Councils election is run in a clean and fair manner, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of Hong Kong has organized a series of educational and publicity activities to enhance public knowledge and understanding of the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Ordinance.

The Registration and Electoral Office has produced leaflets containing the photographs, personal particulars and platforms of the candidates. Every elector was sent a leaflet so that they could know more about the candidates in their own constituency.

A 24-hour hotline was put into service for members of the public to listen to the platforms of the candidates. A poll card, a map of a designated polling station and a voting guide were sent to every elector in the second week of November.

Radio and TV commercials, advertisements, posters and the Internet were also used to highlight the importance of clean elections.

The ICAC, the Registration and Electoral Office and the Police had established a referral system to ensure that different types of complaints in relation to the election would be dealt with expeditiously.

Voting is made as simple as possible and chops bearing the mark of a "tick" is provided at every polling station for electors to mark their ballot papers. In light of public concern about the privacy of personal data, address and constituency of an elector was not published for public inspection. Their identity card numbers and sex were not made public.

The "first past the post" voting system (the candidates who receives the greatest number of votes will be elected) and a new voting method was adopted.

The results of the District Councils election will be gazetted on December 3.