The Macao Special Administrative Region government announced that the election of the sixth-term Macao Chief Executive is slated for Oct 13, and the election of Chief Executive Election Committee recorded record high in both the number of voters and the overall voter turnout rate.

The date was released by an administrative order published in an official gazette on Monday.

The budget for each candidate running for the position has been capped at MOP 6.44 million ($802,000), according to a separate administrative order which was also published on Monday.

On Sunday night, the city announced the preliminary result of the election for the Chief Executive Election Committee, a body responsible for returning the city’s top official.

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Earlier that day, a total of 5,521 eligible voters from different sectors in the city cast ballots to return 344 of the 400-member committee, representing a record-high 88.12 percent turnout.

There were 348 candidates in the election, including entrepreneur Pansy Ho Chiu-king and former chief executive Fernando Chiu Sai On.

Based on data from various election stations, there were 5,346 valid votes, 18 blank votes and 157 invalid votes.

The record-breaking voter turnout was due to the increased participation of voters in the electoral process, said the Macao government.

More than 120 elected candidates will be new faces on the committee, and are expected to bring “fresh perspectives” to the body, the government added.

The other seats on the committee include six representatives nominated by the city’s religious sector and 12 ex-officio seats belonging to the Macao delegates to the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature.

The committee will also have 22, 14 and two members respectively returned from the SAR’s lawmakers, members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and members of municipal bodies.

The election result will be verified by the General Audit Committee and submitted to the Court of Final Appeal, before being officially published.

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All candidates running for election are required to support the Macao Basic Law, to pledge their allegiance to the Macao SAR, and to agree to undergo screening by the city’s National Security Commission, as required by the amended chief executive election law, enacted on Jan 1, 2024, to highlight the “patriots administering Macao” principle.

According to Annex I of the Macao Basic Law, the city’s chief executive is elected by a 400-member committee that is broadly representative, and each would-be candidate must obtain nominations from at least 66 members of the committee to secure a candidacy.

For candidates running to become chief executive, the deadline for their nomination period must end 30 days prior to the election date, and the nomination period must span at least 12 days, according to Macao law.

Contact the writer at fangxue@chinadailyhk.com