Hong Kong Legislative Council Holds First Election After Electoral System Reform... Voter Turnout Hits Record Low at 30%

Opposition Parties Unite in Boycott... Citizens Show Little Interest
Carrie Lam "No Target Set for Voter Turnout in This Election"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] In Hong Kong, the voter turnout for the first Legislative Council election held since the election system reform led by the Chinese government in March recorded an all-time low of 30.2%. It is interpreted that citizens also shunned voting as major opposition parties and pro-democracy forces collectively boycotted the election.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong on the 20th, the Hong Kong Electoral Affairs Commission announced that the voter turnout for the Legislative Council election, counted since the previous day, was 30.2%, with 1,350,680 participants out of a total of 4,472,863 registered voters.

This is the lowest turnout since the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections began, even lower than the previous lowest of 39.1% in 1991. Since Hong Kong was handed back to the UK in 1997, the lowest turnout was 43.57% in 2000. The previous Legislative Council election held in 2016 recorded the highest turnout at 58.29%.

The reason for the low turnout in this election is analyzed to be due to the boycott by the Hong Kong opposition and the broader pro-democracy camp, who did not field any candidates, leading to significantly reduced public interest. Last month, the pro-democracy camp, including the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, the Civic Party, and the League of Social Democrats, announced their boycott of the election in protest against the Chinese government's establishment of a candidate eligibility review committee and the reduction of directly elected seats as part of the election reform plan.

The total number of Legislative Council members to be elected in this election is 90, of which only 20 members are directly elected by the citizens. Forty members are elected by an electoral college designated by the Chinese authorities, and 30 members are elected as representatives of various functional constituencies, meaning 70 out of 90 members are elected under the influence of the Chinese authorities.

Both the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government, aware of the low turnout, operated public transportation free of charge during the election period to encourage voting, but it was deemed ineffective. The Hong Kong government deployed about 10,000 police officers around polling stations and maintained strict security in preparation for sudden protests and disturbances, but no incidents were reported amid public indifference.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's Chief Executive, stated in a press release after the polls closed, "I sincerely thank more than 1.3 million voters who cast their ballots today," and downplayed the significance of the low turnout by saying, "The government never set a target for voter turnout in this election."