The Electoral Affairs Commission strongly condemned the disruptive acts during the 2019 District Council Ordinary Election briefing session, resulting in the cancellation of the session.

Commission Chairman Barnabas Fung planned to use tonight’s session to brief candidates on electoral arrangements and guidelines to ensure the election will be conducted in an open, fair and honest manner.

However, the briefing had to be cancelled when some people shouted and threw objects at the speakers, seriously disrupting the order of the event.

The commission expressed deep regret and strongly condemned the disruptive acts.

While the commission respects the freedom of expression, participants of the briefing are expected to observe venue rules, not cause a nuisance to participants or obstruct the briefing.

The commission said: "The District Council Ordinary Election to be held on November 24 is an important platform for over 4.13 million registered electors to exercise their right to elect their representatives. We do not accept any threats or violence in the election.

"Hong Kong has all along had a very good election culture. The District Council Ordinary Election, held every four years, involves a huge amount of financial and human resources from planning to the polling day. The preparatory work is interrelated.

"It is believed that the candidates and their supporters will commence and participate in electioneering activities. We call upon the community to make the best efforts to ensure that the election can proceed in a peaceful and safe manner, and electors can access polling stations to cast their votes in a peaceful and safe environment on the polling day.

“If anyone is not satisfied with the electoral arrangements, they can make complaints or make election petitions through judicial proceedings to resolve the disputes."

Before the briefing, the order of appearance of candidates’ names on ballots and allocation of designated spots for displaying election advertisements were determined by drawing lots.

Information on the briefing, nominees and the election will be uploaded to the election website.