▲ Hong Kong Legislative Council election counting site


The first legislative assembly (parliamentary) election held yesterday (19th) after China completely overhauled the Hong Kong electoral system based on 'Hong Kong ruled by patriots' recorded a record low turnout of 30.2%.



According to the Hong Kong Election Commission, in the legislative assembly election held yesterday from 8:30 am to 10:30 pm local time, a total of 1,35,680 out of 4,472,863 voters participated and the turnout was 30.2%. Broadcast RTHK reported.



This is the lowest turnout in legislative elections since Hong Kong was returned to China from Britain in 1997.



Previously, 43.57% in 2000 was the lowest.



The South China Morning Post (SCMP) said it was "even lower than the turnout in 1991, when it was recorded at 39.1%," and the lowest in 30 years.



This turnout also contrasts dramatically with the turnout for the previous legislative assembly elections.



Earlier, in September 2016, the turnout for the Legislative Council elections was at an all-time high.



About 2.2 million people cast their votes, resulting in a turnout of 58.29%.



Ahead of this election, the Hong Kong government as well as the Hong Kong officials of the Chinese government came forward to encourage voting and entice voters to participate in free public transportation on Election Day, but they failed to raise low interest in the election.



The Hong Kong police have deployed 10,000 police officers around the polling stations in case of any emergency and have maintained strict security.



However, the election proceeded quietly with low interest and no incidents, except that at 11 of the 630 polling stations, the voting time was extended by 2 to 20 minutes due to technical problems.



This is China's first legislative session since Hong Kong's electoral system was reformed in late March.



A total of 90 lawmakers are elected, including 20 members of the constituency elected directly by the citizens, 30 representatives elected by indirect elections in related industries, and 40 members elected by the Electoral College (Election Committee).



However, interest in the election was at an all-time low as no one nominated a candidate in the pan-democratic camp in protest against the establishment of a qualification screening committee and a reduction in the number of seats directly elected.



In particular, it is the first time since Hong Kong's return to China from Britain in 1997 that Hong Kong's main opposition Democratic Party did not run for a legislative election.



No one from the opposition has emerged from the opposition as most of the major democratic figures are facing prosecution or serving prison sentences in connection with the anti-government protests in 2019, and there is little chance that they will pass a screening committee made up of government officials even if they hope to run.



The Hong Kong media explained that the supporters of the Democratic Party are not as interested in the Legislative Council elections as in the past because there are no candidates to vote for, and because there is no competition from the opposition in the pro-China camps.



(Photo = Getty Images Korea)