The three qualified candidates running for the top position in Hong Kong.[Photo: CCTV]

The voting started at 9 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) and nearly 1,200 members of the Election Committee for the next chief executive cast their votes by secret ballot at the main polling station in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

There are three qualified candidates running for the SAR's top position. The order of their names on the ballot paper is -- Tsang Chun-wah, Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Woo Kwok-hing.

The voting will be closed at 11 a.m. and the results of counting will be announced later. If no candidate wins outright, the second round of voting will be scheduled from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and the third round from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

A candidate wins the election when he or she obtains more than 600 valid votes in any round of voting and will be appointed by the central government, according to Hong Kong's Basic Law and the Chief Executive Election Ordinance.

After the appointment, the winner will take oath of office on July 1 and become the fifth-term chief executive.