EPAA poster with candidates participating in the Hong Kong elections
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 04:17
Turnout in the Hong Kong elections was historically low. In total, only 27.5 percent of voters showed up for the city’s district council elections yesterday. Never before has such a low percentage of residents exercised their right to vote.
The low turnout follows the introduction of a ruthless security law by Beijing more than three years ago. A large part of the opposition has since been behind bars or has emigrated abroad. The parties and candidates that residents could still vote for had all been approved by Beijing. Several groups dropped out.
In the previous elections for the district councils, in 2019, the pro-democracy camp achieved a resounding victory with a record turnout of 71 percent. At that time, 90 percent of the total number of seats were still freely eligible. After far-reaching reforms, this has now been reduced to 20 percent: lower than when Hong Kong was under British rule.
‘No meaning’
“You can see that everyone is starting to feel that the elections have no meaning,” Lemon Wong told the international news agency Reuters. He is one of the few remaining Democrats still involved in local politics. “Even supporters of the current system wonder why they should vote, because it’s all the same.”
On election day, more than 10,000 police officers were on the scene. At least six people have been arrested for alleged violations, according to statements from police and the city’s anti-corruption authority. They are said to have called online for invalid votes to be cast or for the elections to be disrupted.
2023-12-11 03:17:54
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