Hong Kong holds first council elections under new rules that shut out pro-democracy candidates

Hong Kong residents vote in district council elections under Beijing's "patriots" rule, with pro-democracy candidates excluded. Low turnout expected due to rule changes, including elimination of most directly elected seats.

Residents went to the polls on Sunday in Hong Kong's first district council elections since an electoral overhaul was implemented under Beijing's guidance of “patriots” administering the city, effectively shutting out all pro-democracy candidates.

Turnout is expected to be much lower than in the last elections, held at the height of the 2019 anti-government protests. Some pro-democracy voters, dismayed by the drastic rule changes, including the elimination of most directly elected seats, are turning their backs on the polls.

The final turnout will be a barometer of public sentiment toward the “patriots”-only system, the new political order under the Hong Kong government's crackdown on dissidents following the 2019 protests — the most concerted challenge to Beijing since the former British colony returned to China's rule in 1997.

China promised the semi-autonomous territory could retain its Western-style liberties for 50 years under the “one country, two systems” framework. But that promise has become increasingly threadbare after Beijing imposed a national security law that led to the arrest and silencing of many pro-democracy activists.

In 2021, the city amended its electoral laws for its legislature, drastically reducing the public's ability to vote and increasing the number of pro-Beijing lawmakers making decisions for the city. After the changes, the turnout rate plunged from 58% to 30% in a legislative election that year.

The district councils, which primarily handle municipal matters such as organizing construction projects and public facilities, were the last major political bodies mostly chosen by the public.

The elections four years ago held symbolic importance in the anti-government movement, with a record turnout rate of 71%. The pro-democracy camp's landslide victory acted as a rebuke to the government's handling of the 2019 protests.