Hong Kong Voters Reject Patriots Only Election with Historic Low Turnout
Hong Kong voters defy China's patriots only election, recording historically low turnout Opposition barred from standing Beijing's hailed system change proves futile
Only 27.5% of eligible voters in Hong Kong participated in the recent district council elections, marking the lowest turnout in decades. This turnout reflects another rejection of China's efforts to overhaul the city's electoral system to limit opposition participation. Despite government efforts to encourage voting, fewer than 1.2 million Hong Kongers cast their ballots.
The lackluster turnout in the recent elections was a stark contrast to the record-breaking 71% voter participation during the 2019 elections, which came after months of influential anti-government protests. However, the landscape has significantly changed as Hong Kong's pro-democracy candidates have been excluded from running due to a controversial electoral reform that now mandates only "patriotic" individuals aligned with Beijing to hold public office.
The move resulted in a reduction of directly elected district council seats by 80%, leaving only 88 out of 470, with all candidates required to undergo national security screening and secure nominations from government-appointed committees. After voting on Sunday morning, Hong Kong's leader John Lee referred to the election as "the final step in implementing the principles of patriots governing Hong Kong."
"Moving forward, district councils will no longer serve as platforms for undermining and opposing the government's administration, promoting Hong Kong independence, and threatening national security," stated Lee.
In Hong Kong, district council seats are extremely local positions, focusing on issues such as bus routes and garbage collection. However, due to the majority being directly elected - at least prior to the recent changes - they effectively became a protest platform in 2019.
The city's dominant legislative body is now filled with "patriots" following a 2021 election that had a historically low turnout of only 30.2% after Beijing restructured the political system. The ongoing national security trial is hearing cases of numerous pro-democracy figures who organized an unofficial primary vote to determine election candidates and are facing charges of subversion.
A man walks towards a polling station for the district council elections in Hong Kong on December 10, 2023.
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A waste of time
China's ruling Communist Party is implementing an electoral overhaul as part of their larger efforts to reshape Hong Kong in the wake of mass protests in 2019. In the following year, Beijing imposed a comprehensive national security law on the semi-autonomous city, which critics argue has been utilized to suppress political dissent and freedoms.
The government of Hong Kong claims that the law has put an end to turmoil and "reestablished stability" in the city.
According to John Burns, emeritus professor at the University of Hong Kong, many voters on Sunday were disheartened by the limited political choices on the ballot, as they were essentially being asked to support candidates selected for them by the government.
The authorities' attempts to engage citizens in the Legislative Council elections were largely ineffective. This is likely due to the widespread belief among many citizens that the elections are unfair and illegitimate, as the authorities have targeted and oppressed opposition leaders and parties. Consequently, many citizens see participating in the new arrangements as futile and a meaningless effort.
The elections are simply a chance for citizens to demonstrate support for the government, with seventy percent of voters choosing not to participate," he stated. Despite the Hong Kong government's concentrated efforts to increase voter turnout, Sunday saw a low number of voters.
In the weeks prior to the election, posters and billboards were displayed throughout the city to urge residents to vote "for a stronger community." Pro-Beijing candidates and their supporters greeted commuters during the morning rush hour in a bid to drum up support. On the eve of the election, the government organized an outdoor concert, carnivals, drone performances, and free museum visits as part of the "District Council Election Fun Day" to rally voters.
Burns noted that the extraordinary effort to drive voter turnout in the [district council] elections indicates a potential attempt by certain entities to leverage citizen involvement in the polls as a validation of Hong Kong's exclusive patriots-only political framework. However, this endeavor proved unsuccessful, as the turnout raises doubts about the legitimacy of the new system.
Pedestrians walk past posters promoting the district council elections in Hong Kong.
Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
Beijing hails new system
As Sunday afternoon wore on, it was clear that the turnout was going to be extremely low. Activists displayed last-minute signs and made "emergency pleas" on social media, urging their followers to show up.
The Hong Kong government announced an "electronic poll register system failure" and extended voting by 90 minutes until midnight, just two hours before the elections were supposed to end. The electoral commission denied any connection to the low turnout, but candidates seized the opportunity to make their final appeals to voters.
Regina Ip, a lawmaker from the New Peoples Party, expressed on Facebook that her party's candidates are facing a critical situation following the announcement of the extension. She urged everyone to seize this final opportunity, mobilize their families, and encourage neighbors and friends to hurry to the polling stations to vote.
She shared a photo of herself standing by herself at a polling station in eastern Hong Kong Island on Instagram. In a caption, she noted that the Heng Fa Cheun polling station was completely empty at 10:57 p.m., except for officials and candidates' teams. The officials in Beijing were also closely following the polls.
On Sunday, the central governments Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office praised the election, calling it "fair, just, lively, and orderly" and highlighting the "advanced nature and superiority of the new district council system." The statement also commended the turnout of over 1.19 million voters, emphasizing their actions to combat election-related criticism.
Beijing sees the low turnout as a sign of the Hong Kong government's inability to mobilize, according to Burns, a University of Hong Kong professor. "This may lead the central authorities to believe that further education is necessary in Hong Kong," he added.
