Voter turnout plunged below 30 per cent in Hong Kong’s first district council elections since new rules introduced under Beijing’s guidance effectively shut out all pro-democracy candidates, setting a record low since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. According to official data on Monday, 27.5 per cent of the city’s 4.3 million registered voters cast ballots in Sunday’s polls significantly less than the record 71.2 per cent who participated in the last elections held at the height of anti-government protests in 2019. The pro-democracy camp won those polls in a landslide victory, in a clear rebuke of the government’s handling of the protests.
Beijing loyalists are expected to take control of the district councils after Sunday’s elections, with partial returns showing big pro-government parties gaining more seats than independent candidates and smaller parties. The district councils, which primarily handle municipal matters such as organising construction projects and public facilities, were Hong Kong’s last major political bodies mostly chosen by the public. But under new electoral rules introduced under a Beijing order that only “patriots” should administer the city, candidates must secure endorsements from at least nine members of government-appointed committees that are mostly packed with Beijing loyalists, making it virtually impossible for any pro-democracy candidates to run.
