All 161 hopefuls seeking to join next month's Legislative Council polls have been cleared to run by a vetting committee, with a series of election forums set to begin on Tuesday.

The results of the vetting process were announced on Monday by Chief Secretary Eric Chan, who heads the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee.

"We adhered strictly to the law in reviewing the qualifications of each candidate. We approved the eligibility of all 161 hopefuls," he said.

Electoral officers drew lots for the order of the hopefuls before their eligibility was deemed valid, while the vetting process ended four days after nominations for the December 7 elections closed.

"We want to give candidates more time for electioneering while giving voters sufficient time to understand each candidate's platform, aspirations and contributions so that they can make a suitable choice on election day," he said.

On whether offering discounts to those who have voted on election day would run afoul to the law, Chan said it would not be an issue as long as voters were not told to cast their ballots for a certain person.

From Tuesday, authorities will organise a total of 39 election forums that will be broadcast on RTHK to give all candidates a fair chance to present their platforms ahead of polling day.

In the races are 51 candidates for 20 directly elected seats, 60 for the 30 functional constituency seats and 50 for the 40-strong Election Committee constituency.

That means all 90 seats in the legislature are set to see competition.