HKFP Lens: Hong Kong’s first ‘patriots-only’ District Council election
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s first “patriots-only” District Council election saw the lowest turnout rate of 27.5 per cent among all polls held in post-colonial Hong Kong, despite the government sparing no effort to publicise the poll, as a technical glitch caused voting hours to be extended until midnight.
Justice David Lok, chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, said on Sunday that it was not appropriate to directly compare this year’s turnout with that of 2019, when 71.2 per cent of registered voters cast their ballots – a record high. The composition, voter base and voting system this year were different, Lok said.
Throughout Sunday, HKFP’s reporters and photographer spread out across the city to capture last-minute canvassing by candidates, elderly voters being bussed to polling stations, and – after a delay caused by the system failure – ballots being counted.
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