Hong Kong district council polls: record turnout includes those who returned from overseas and immigrants voting for the first time
- Immigrants voting for the first time add to record turnout at polling stations
- Those returning to vote ‘are showing solidarity with protesters and younger generation’
The record turnout in Sunday’s district council elections included Hongkongers living overseas who returned to vote, as well as immigrants casting their ballots for the first time.
At polling stations across Hong Kong, some voters said they had come back from as far as Britain to do their part in selecting 452 representatives for the city’s 18 district councils.
Peter Chan Ka-hung, a 28-year-old epidemiologist living in the English city of Oxford came back to vote in Wong Tai Sin district.
He said the ongoing protests “revealed some long-standing structural problems of the current government and society” and wanted to do his part for the city by voting.
“Although this election won’t solve many of these problems, I believe it will be a good start to improve the situation bit by bit, and to build a momentum for future social movements,” Chan said.
