Police deployed to polling stations as Hong Kong votes in revised ‘Patriots’ elections | Hong Kong

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Hong Kong’s first “patriots only” legislative elections saw a slow early turnout across the city, with thousands of police officers deployed to monitor polling stations.

Sunday’s election, which saw 153 candidates competing for 90 seats, is the first to be held after Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral processes earlier this year, cutting the proportion of directly elected seats and introducing a two-tier vetting process for candidates by security police. nationalist. And officials to ensure that only “patriots” can run the city.

Voter turnout averaged about 6% for all 10 geographic districts, two hours after polling began. Geographical constituencies make up the 20 directly elected seats available in the legislature.

Neither Beijing nor the local government has set targets for voter turnout, Chief Executive Carrie Lam told reporters after casting her vote. Instead, Lam said her goal was for the elections to be as efficient as possible.

Polls were open from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. local time. Electoral Affairs Commission Chairman Barnabas Phuong said he hopes that the results of the election commission elections will be announced late Sunday evening, and that the results of the elected seats will be announced directly by Monday noon.

More than 10,000 officers have been deployed across the city “to ensure a smooth operation,” according to Police Chief Raymond Seo.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam arrives at the polling station to vote in the 2021 Legislative Assembly general election. Photo: Alex Chan Tsz Yuk/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

Hong Kong residents were given free rides on public transport on Sunday as part of the government’s efforts to encourage residents to vote. Polling stations have also been set up at checkpoints on the city’s borders with mainland China to allow Hong Kong residents living on the mainland to cast their ballots.

The city’s second official, John Lee, called on Hong Kong residents to vote, saying that candidates barred from running for failing “patriots” criteria would try to thwart the election.

“People who have been disqualified under the principles of the patriots who run Hong Kong will do everything in their power to make today’s election unsuccessful. We have to make sure that they will not succeed,” Lee told reporters after casting his vote, adding that the candidates were “widely representative” of Hong Kong society. .

Others said they would not vote, expressing anger at the changes that some said turned the ballot into a “choice” and the legislature into a “puppet”.

“Obviously, refusing to vote is the only way for us to voice our grievances,” said Peter, 21, a college student.

In contrast to previous polls, pro-democracy candidates are largely absent, having refused to run, gone into exile or been imprisoned. Some activists abroad and foreign governments, including the United States, say electoral changes have reduced democratic representation in the city.

Only four of the 35 candidates running for the 20 directly elected seats mentioned “democracy” or “universal suffrage” in their election campaigns. The new system has reduced the percentage of legislators who can be directly elected by Hong Kong people from 53% to 22%.

The election rollout also saw early hurdles, with an online service informing the public of expected waiting times at offline polling stations due to “excessive use” an hour after polling opened, according to a spokesperson for the Elections and Registration Office.

with agencies

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