Hit Hong Kong 'Patriot' Election Turnout Could Be Record Low

Hong Kong's first "patriots only” legislative election yesterday was marked by what could be a record low turnout - reflecting what critics said was widespread disapproval of recent changes to the electoral system and the wider national security crackdown in the city.

- Vincent Ni, Rhoda Kwan

The polls, in which 153 candidates competed for 90 seats, were the first to be held since China overhauled the city's electoral processes earlier this year, reducing the ratio of directly elected seats and introducing a two-tiered candidate-vetting process by national security police and officials to ensure only “patriots” could administer the city.

The latest figures suggest turnout could be the lowest since the city's 1997 handover to China. After eight hours of voting, turnout was more than 10 percentage points lower than in the 2016 election. Official figures showed 21.02% of the electorate had voted, down from 31.16% at the same point five years ago.

Early indications suggested the turnout was far lower than the last legislative election, in 2016, Reuters reported. The South China Morning Post said that one hour before polls closed, only about 29% of the electorate had voted, compared with 53% in the 2016 poll.

The city's officials had repeatedly urged residents to vote. The city's largest opposition party, the Democratic party, fielded no candidates.