They are being billed as fair and open - the same catchphrase former Governor Chris Patten and his top aides used when propagating the ill-fated 1995 Legco elections.
The irony, however, is that hundreds of thousands of voters who were entitled to a second vote in functional constituency polls two years ago will only be allowed to vote in geographical constituencies in next year's polls.
This is because most of the nine new functional seats will be returned through corporate votes under the new Electoral Bill, rather than individual ballots as provided for in the Patten blueprint.
Under the new proportional representation method for the 20 geographical seats, it can further be argued that voters will only have one ballot in their constituency even though it will be represented by up to five people in the legislature.
Speaking at a press conference, the key official in charge of the 1994-95 elections, Nicholas Ng Wing-fui, did not elaborate on how the upcoming polls would be fairer and more open than the previous ones.
Nor did he explain how the nine new functional constituencies were being selected, or how the untried proportional representation system was better than the 'single-seat, single-vote' method.
Mr Ng, who keeps the title of secretary for constitutional affairs in Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's administration said: 'Our key considerations are to have an open and fair election, to achieve a balanced participation of all groups and individuals and to constitute a credible legislature.' Rhetoric aside, many believe the first legislative council to be constituted under the new rules after the election scheduled for May 24 will see another line-up of the Provisional Legislative Council with the addition of some Democrats and a few independents.