Most Hong Kong voters ignored Beijing city council candidates approved by Beijing, hitting the government’s efforts to show it enjoys popular support after national security – related punitive actions that crushed the city’s political opposition.
The percentage of voters on Sunday was the lowest in the Legislative Council elections since the city was returned to China from British control more than twenty years ago. Only 30.2% of the 4.5 million registered voters in the city voted, according to the government. In 2016, the voter turnout was 58.3%. The lowest percentage of previous voters since Hong Kong passed to the Chinese was 43.6% in 2000.
As part of a series of new election rules introduced at China’s initiative this year, candidates were scrutinized by the authorities and the number of seats of lawmakers directly elected by voters was cut by at least a quarter from the legislature, compared with half in 2016. Dozens of potential opposition candidates are languishing in prisons on charges of incitement. Others fled the city or left political life.
“This election is not really an election, so there is no point in voting,” said Yoyo Jung, 34, who works in education and did not intend to vote.
The city government on Saturday sent text messages to citizens asking them to go out and vote and even offered them free rides on public transport on Sunday. Instead of going to the polls, however, large crowds spread across the city for day trips, filling the shopping districts, parks and other tourist sites. Ahead of the election, pollsters found that interest in the election in the days leading up to it was minimal.
John Lee, the second most senior official in Hong Kong, said on Sunday that politicians who were not allowed to run were traitors who interfered with the orderly functioning of the city government. A high percentage of voters, he said, was needed to defeat forces that wanted to ruin Sunday’s election.
“We have to make sure they do not succeed, so we will make this election a success. That is why we must go out and vote,” he said.
Beyond the 20 seats elected by popular vote, the remaining are elected by special interest groups or appointed by a 1,500-member election committee composed of people loyal to Beijing. Among the various groups divided by occupation, the percentage of voters was particularly low among teachers, medics and paramedics, and social workers.
“These elections are not considered credible”
“People do not see these elections as credible or meaningful. That’s why they do not go out to vote,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London, which specializes in Hong Kong politics. The failure of the government to reach even the core of its voters who will go out to vote has shown that “they are acting very, very badly,” he said.
Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lem said neither her government nor Beijing authorities had set a target for turnout.
Although they made arrangements for long queues, the polling stations were mostly quiet and had a few voters. Police increased security across the city, and groups of police officers in blue uniforms were ready to operate at many polling stations.
Several people on social media uploaded photos comparing the election to scenes from November 2019, so residents had long queues to vote in local elections. Those elections took place after many months of demonstrations in favor of democracy and the percentage of voters in them was the largest of any election in Hong Kong history. The opposition won that election by a wide margin.
Many of the people elected at the time were disqualified or resigned, while opposition parties, trade unions and pro-democracy media groups dispersed after the National Security Act that China began enforcing last year.
Elections to the Legislative Council were initially scheduled for September last year but were postponed by senior officials citing the plague, and most of those who wanted to run as opposition candidates were later arrested on charges related to national security.
Voters who went out to vote said they did so out of a sense of civic duty.
In Yuan Long, a city near the border with mainland China, voters who visited the polls on Sunday afternoon were mostly middle-aged or older. Candidates made taped messages urging residents to vote, and one of the candidates, Holden Chao from the largest Hong Kong-backed party in Beijing, shook hands with his supporters.
“I uphold my civic duty to vote. I do not want the perpetrators to show up,” said Wendy Lounge, a 60-year-old saleswoman who referred to the 2019 anti-government protests, which sometimes ended in violent clashes with police.
Damian Young, who works in the food and beverage industry and said he does not vote, said Beijing loyalists who had previously claimed to be supported by the quiet majority could no longer claim so due to the low voter turnout.
“Right now the situation is a joke”
One of the most active polling stations was where city council members voted. A long pedestrian bridge leading to the convention center was filled with signs, photos of candidates and encouraging supporters most of the day.
Ivan Sue, a 40-year-old school principal, said the lack of opposition candidates prompted him to vote for the first time – but instead of voting for one of the candidates, he wrote on a white note the name of one of the movement’s leaders for democracy.
“I hope in five years, the situation will return to normal,” Sue said. “Right now, the situation is a joke.”
Anti-corruption police have arrested 10 people in recent weeks for allegedly supporting a voter boycott or calling on voters to cast a white ballot, a crime that could carry three years in prison and a $ 25,000 fine under the new election rules.
The possibility of traveling for free on public transport drew criticism from some observers on the election, who said it was not necessary because polling stations around the city could be easily reached on foot.
A couple of friends in their 50s, who identified only as Mrs. Chan and Mrs. Ng, said they traveled for free to the other side of town to an area they usually do not visit.
“I do not know the candidates, and I do not see how voting or not voting will make any difference,” Ms. Chan said.