Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she looks forward to working with a new “widely representative” Legislative Council as she played down the poor showing. Beijing, meanwhile, hailed the polls as democratic.
Also, Sunday’s newly-restricted poll recorded the highest percentage of invalid ballots since Handover as it delivered just one non-pro-establishment lawmaker.
Results from the 1,448-member elite Election Committee constituency were the first to be confirmed, as vote counting took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The majority of the city’s public transport services, including most MTR and bus routes, were free-of-charge on election day. While the scheme was intended to remind people of the importance of voting, HKFP spoke with Hongkongers who said that it did not have an impact on their intention to vote.
With traditional pro-democracy parties not fielding candidates and many of the pro-democracy figures behind bars or in self-exile, HKFP spoke with democrats in Hong Kong on how they spent election day.
On Sunday, candidates began making urgent appeals to voters during the early afternoon, as Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that she is not responsible for voter turnout.
Pro-Beijing candidates, including election veterans, said that insufficient government promotion and free public transport services were to blame for the turnout situation.
Hong Kong’s biggest pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), will remain the dominant grouping in the expanded Legislative Council
