New election laws expelled voters because many did not believe their vote mattered. According to mainland Chinese regulations, all candidates in Parliament, the Legislative Council, must be “patriotic,” or loyal to China.
Hong Kong turnout in the election has remained at a record low of 30 per cent. The election is the first under China’s new election laws.
Director of the Electoral Authorities of the Special Administrative Region Barnabas Fungin according to turnout, it jumped to its lowest level in three decades.
According to mainland Chinese regulations, all candidates in Parliament, the Legislative Council, must be “patriotic,” or loyal to China.
This time, only 20 of the 90 members of parliament will be elected by direct universal suffrage. The majority of the representatives are elected by a 1,500-member electoral commission, which has also been criticized in Hong Kong for its support for China.
Many of the opposition politicians, some of whom entered parliament in previous elections, have been imprisoned, excluded from politics or have fled abroad.
Preliminary election results were promised only the night before Monday.
Although The Chinese-backed campaign had been brisk, with far more than half of the SAR residents polling that they would not bother to vote.
“My voice means nothing because in the end, the people of Beijing will win,” the 20-year-old accountant, who introduced himself as Loy, told AFP.
When the Hong Kong regional director Carrie Lam arrived at the polling station, a small group of protesters shouted “we want a genuine universal suffrage”.
A voter who introduced himself to Lox said he did not know the majority of the new candidates at all, but still voted.
“I chose those who would express their dissent, not those jesus men,” he said.
Chinese-minded people said the turnout was sluggish because people were misled by foreign powers and foreign media.
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