The nomination period for Hong Kong's 2008 Legislative Council (LegCo) election started on Saturday in the run-up of polling on Sept. 7.

Though the two-week nomination period will run until Aug. 1, 38 candidates for five geographical constituencies and 28 functional constituencies had submitted their nomination forms to Returning Officers.

There were 16 for the geographical constituencies, with three each in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon East, two in Kowloon West and eight in New Territories West. For the functional constituencies, 22 nominations were received.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang called on voters on Saturday to vote in the Sept. 7 LegCo election to return legislators who can represent them in shaping Hong Kong's future.

Launching the election's publicity campaign here Saturday, Tang said he was pleased to see the enthusiastic response of the citizens in the latest voter registration drive with a record number of 3.37 million voters.

"This shows that more people are keen to take up their civic responsibilities, exercise their rights, and take Hong Kong's future close to their hearts," Tang said.

Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, HKSAR government Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam said the four-term LegCo will play a key role in determining the further progress of democratization for Hong Kong in 2012 for forming LegCo and for returning the Chief Executive.

"So, I would call on all 3.37 million registered voters to come out and vote on September 7 and choose the representatives they wish to represent their opinions, their districts and their functional constituencies."