With only two opposition-friendly faces in the race, some have accused authorities of stifling dissent with the new rules, though analysts have suggested the Sunday elections would be an indicator of how much room was left for a new, moderate breed of critics.

Overall turnout hits 90 per cent

Electoral Affairs Commission chairman Barnabas Fung Wah said about 4,380 people voted on Sunday, or about 90 per cent of the electorate.

Three subsectors – legal, technology and innovation, and architectural, surveying, planning and landscape, which have 30, 54 and 55 voters respectively – achieved 100 per cent turnout, he added.

Asked why the count was delayed for more than one hour, Fung said it was discovered “some documents” had been left in the Convention and Exhibition Centre polling station after ballot boxes were being delivered to the central counting station in the same building.

Extra time was spent picking up the documents and cross-checking.

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But he refused to reveal the documents involved. “I’ll need to have a full report and analysis [first], but as I understand it, they do not involve the counting of ballot papers,” he said.

Fung said it was also found that accounting statistics recorded digitally in certain polling stations did not match handwritten data. So station staff had to cross-check statistics manually.

“In the past they only had to record by means of handwritten statistics, this time we have used the computer to issue ballot papers, so there is one more step,” he said, adding that officials would look to see if the process could be streamlined.

‘Many unregistered voters wrongly queued up at polling station’

Some voters had complained they had to queue up for more than an hour at the Kowloon Park polling station.

Electoral Affairs Commission chief Barnabas Fung Wah said electoral officers needed time to get used to a new electronic voters’ register, while numerous ordinary citizens, who were not registered voters, had wrongly joined the queue.

“The operation of the electronic system was smooth and satisfactory, but staff members were not too familiar with it at first,” he said.

“I was also told there were many unregistered voters who queued up. Some thought they could cast a ballot even though we had widely publicised [about the elections].

“In future, we will see if there are ways to let the public better understand that only registered voters could enter the stations.”

Fung said the commission would also look into whether bigger polling stations and more machines could be set up to speed up the process. He also said authorities would follow up on the five complaints they received.

First results expected in about 2 hours

Hong Kong has finally started counting ballots for the powerful Election Committee, with the first round of results expected to be announced in two hours at the earliest.

As ballot papers from the city’s five polling stations arrived at the central counting station at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, officials kicked off the vote count at about 9.10pm. Electoral Affairs Commission chairman Barnabas Fung Wah and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai emptied a ballot box onto a table before the press.

Ballot papers are first sorted into 13 subsectors and brought to separate tables for counting. Officials then check them manually to see if they are valid.

Valid ballot papers are passed to a scanning zone to be counted digitally by Optical Mark Recognition machines. Questionable ballot papers, including those not accepted by the machines, if any, will be brought to returning officers who are responsible for determining the validity of votes.

Hundreds of people, including candidates and their agents, are at the counting station witnessing the process.

All data input manually or by the machines will be sent to a central database. Once returning officers confirm that vote counting of their relevant subsectors has been completed, results will be announced on stage in the centre.

Documents left behind, vote counting delayed

Vote counting had been expected to start around 8pm, but it has been delayed. An electoral official said that when ballot boxes from one polling station in the New Territories were on the way to Wan Chai, it was discovered some documents had been left behind.

So, on the advice of electoral authorities, the vehicle returned to the station to pick up the documents.

“Each polling station has a presiding officer, who is usually a senior government official, to make sure ballot boxes and relevant documents are taken to the truck before departing to the counting station,” an official said. “The official may face consequences over this.”

Polling stations close

At 6pm, security guards started to close the five polling centres, removing banners and rolling out boards with notices on them telling voters the stations were closed.

Journalists began gathering at the central counting station and media centre at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. Electoral Affairs Commission chairman Barnabas Fung Wah and constitutional affairs chief Erick Tsang Kwok-wai will kick off the vote counting process by emptying a ballot box at about 8pm.

The first result is expected after 10pm, and unlike on previous occasions, most, if not all, could be known by around midnight.

Nearly 50 candidates of the pro-Beijing Federation of Trade Unions chanted the slogan “safeguard the rights of workers” as voting closed. Chairman Stanley Ng Chau-pei said the high turnout in the labour subsector showed the overhaul “brought about unity” in the industry, but that it was too early to say who the group would support in the chief executive election.

“We just can’t assume who is going to run. But we have already expressed our demands on labour rights to [Chief Executive Carrie] Lam,” he said.

Fewer voters leads to record turnout

In previous elections, voter turnout had been an important indicator of engagement. But with a much smaller base and Beijing’s insistence that only “patriots” take part, the figure has broken records throughout the day.

By 4pm, turnout had reached 80.5 per cent, meaning 3,936 of 4,889 voters had voted, a record for Election Committee polls.

Among the 13 subsectors, one – the legal sector, which has 30 voters – achieved a 100 per cent turnout, while six others reached a turnout of more than 90 per cent and five exceeded 80 per cent.

With a voter base of 1,750, the remaining subsector, education, was the largest subgroup and had the lowest turnout of 68.6 per cent.

In the last Election Committee polls in November 2016, the final turnout rate was 46.5 per cent. A total of 107,841 voters out of a pool of 231,769 cast ballots.

Professor Song Sio-chong, of Shenzhen University’s Centre for Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macau, suggested the turnout this time was high because Beijing attached so much importance to the elections and had likely urged eligible people – many of whom are corporate voters representing their organisations or companies – to turn up.

Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng had also highlighted his concern about the elections on Saturday.

“In these functional constituencies, people often know each other quite well and so that’s an incentive,” he said. “Voters tend to vote for people they know, not to say if the candidates had lobbied them for support.”

‘I don’t know and I don’t want to’

Sha Tin resident Mr Wong, who declined to give his full name, said he was unaware of the polls taking place just yards from a playground where his children were taking pictures with Snoopy characters.

“I only saw a lot of police officers walking back and forth,” the 49-year-old said. “I do not know what’s happening, and I am not interested in knowing.”

A regular voter in the past, Wong said he had stopped doing so after drastic political changes in recent years, including the promulgation of the national security law last year.

“Under the national security law, two unnecessary statements can land you in jail,” he said.

Wong said it was “pointless” even if the Election Committee did reflect the public’s views, as the government was not required to do what people wanted.

“I will settle with a house with children and a tranquil life,” he said. “You can do whatever you want.”

‘At least I got to choose’

“It’s rare to get a vote these days, so it’s all the more important to vote for someone I support,” Chua Hoi-wai, chief executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, told the Post outside the Wan Chai polling station after casting his vote in the social welfare sector.

Chua said that, given the electoral changes, he could only soldier on within the framework that now existed but treasured his chance to vote all the same.

“For the social welfare subsector, we have a wide spectrum of candidates, so at least I got to choose,” he said of the only category to feature two opposition candidates.

“If you have not voted, vote for someone who can be a voice for you,” he urged fellow voters who had yet to cast a ballot.

Executive Council convenor Bernard Chan, meanwhile, defended the decision to slash the number of people eligible to do so.

“I don’t think the reduction is important. What’s important is whether we choose the right people for Hong Kong,” he said after casting his ballot for the insurance sector.

The criteria for making that choice went beyond knowledge and dedication related to a particular sector, Chan added, as the Election Committee faced a different task than Legislative Council members.

“We are not choosing the Legco member for the insurance sector now. We need to look for someone who has a passion for Hong Kong,” he said.

On the outside looking in

A retiree who identified himself as Mr Cheung spoke to the Post after stopping to observe the scene in Wan Chai.

“There are so many people walking past this spot,” he said of the Convention and Exhibition Centre, where a jewellery fair was also taking place. “But only a few can go in and vote.”

The 63-year-old, who used to work in IT and logistics, ruefully noted the massive reduction in the number of eligible voters.

“If this is an improvement, what else can I say?” he said.

While acknowledging there might be legitimate concerns about individual opposition candidates, he said shrinking the number of voters so drastically was another matter.

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Pointing to the recent Legislative Assembly elections in neighbouring Macau, where voters cast defiant ballots bearing curse words and the names of banned opposition figures, he said he would relish the chance to make himself heard if he were allowed to vote.

“At least we can do it like Macau,” he said.

Outside Kowloon Park Sports Centre, a 24-year-old accountant named Ryan said he was largely unaware of the elections taking place inside.

“I vaguely heard it was happening, but it’s just a small group of people taking part. Of course, I would hope we ordinary residents could take part too,” he said. “But at this point, my hope for that happening is pretty much zero.”

Opposition voices ‘still important’

Social welfare sector candidate Tik Chi-yuen, of the centrist Third Side party, rejected criticism that there was no longer space for voices in government outside the firmly pro-establishment camp.

Casting his vote at Kowloon Park, Tik insisted there was still room for opposition candidates in the coming Legislative Council elections if they were proactive in seizing opportunities.

“I know some pro-democracy parties have pretty much given up on these elections, but it doesn’t have to be like that. Opposition voices are still important in Hong Kong,” he said.

“I still see a chance of us getting elected, and I believe there is space for non-establishment voices in Legco.”

But voters from pro-Beijing parties were quick to suggest the city’s opposition had “over-politicised” previous polls.

Legislator Elizabeth Quat of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, an ex-officio member of the election committee, praised the quality of the current crop of candidates, saying past winners had not necessarily represented voters’ views.

New People’s Party chairwoman and lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, another ex-officio member, made a similar argument while in Sha Tin to support colleagues standing in the election.

“Many very experienced professionals lost in last year’s race. The winners of the last election were too one-sided. This year’s candidates are very balanced,” she said.

Lam, the city leader, addressed the paucity of opposition candidates during an appearance at the Wan Chai polling station earlier in the day, insisting the new reality did not prevent the camp from taking an active role in the city’s political life.

“We still welcome people from all walks of life, people who have different opinions about government policies, to go into politics, as long as we all share the common objective of succeeding under ‘one country, two systems’ and do nothing to undermine national security,” she said.

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More voters in the future?

Koon, there to vote in the social welfare sector, noted the calm nature of the polls, which were taking place amid a near total absence of an opposition he blamed for “past quarrels and disputes”.

Asked if the polls were representative of residents’ views given the huge reduction in the number of voters, he said it was possible that more might participate in the future.

“For a time in recent years, Hong Kong has been rocked by a little chaos,” he said. “But if it can be shown that Hong Kong can carry out the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, and develop closer ties with mainland China, the voter base may be [expanded] a little in the future,” he said.

Casting his vote for the legal sector was Anthony Neoh, who showed up in a cap with a logo marking the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party.

The former head of the police watchdog said he got the cap at a celebratory event two months ago in Beijing and specifically wore it to the polling venue to mark this special occasion.

In Sha Tin, where a dozen uniformed officers were stationed at a staircase leading to the district’s town hall, the DAB’s Clement Woo Kin-man said the electoral overhaul would actually empower city residents on a grass-roots level.

“For example, members of the area committees come from resident representatives, owners of residential buildings, chambers of commerce, the social service industry and schools,” he said after casting his ballot at the district’s town hall.

“They are a broadly representative group with a sound knowledge of the community and can provide recommendations for its development.”

Woo lost his seat in the Tai Po District Council in the 2019 polls, which saw the opposition camp claim a landslide victory and assume control of all but one municipal office. Last year, the government set up an area committee in Tai Po with Woo as a founding member.

But he rejected the notion the committee had effectively displaced the district council where he once served.

“After last year’s polls, the district councils became very different with the political leaning of their members. Were they very representative and constructive?” he asked.

‘All a big joke’, teen protester says

A 19-year-old who asked to be identified only as Maximillian, briefly stopped outside the Kowloon Park Sports Centre to protest against the elections, holding a sign that read: “Improve the electoral system? It’s all a big joke”.

“This is not an election, they are just trying to wipe out anyone with a different opinion,” he told a scrum of reporters before leaving shortly thereafter.

But there were few other signs of dissent around the polling station, which hours earlier had seen queues of voters dissipate.

Families rushing children to swimming lessons and domestic helpers taking sports classes on their day off represented the bulk of residents in the area.

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‘A microcosm of society’

Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, on Sunday dismissed claims that the poll was a small-circle election, insisting that the fewer than 5,000 electors were a “microcosm of society” and represented balanced participation by the city’s 7.5 million residents.

Despite a drastic reduction in the number of voters, Tsang said the current pool included voices from the grass-roots level as well as Hongkongers who lived on the other side of the border and local representatives of Beijing’s political and legislative bodies.

“We have always talked about a democratic system that fits the circumstances of Hong Kong instead of one which only pursues high turnout or fierce competition,” Tsang told reporters outside the Sha Tin Town Hall polling station.

“A quality democratic system is one which gives effect to the ‘rule by patriots’ principle and helps Hong Kong’s future.”

While few of the city’s residents were eligible to cast a vote, Tsang urged the public to “express interest in, become involved in, and embrace” Sunday’s polls.

He also warned against attempts to hinder the election by inciting others to cast a blank or invalid vote, adding that authorities had yet to receive a report on such illegal activities so far.

Nearly half of votes cast

While more than 6,000 officers were deployed ahead of the polls and a heavy police presence was noted in both Wan Chai and at Kowloon Park, officials praised the smoothness of the operation.

By noon, 2,245 votes, or 46 per cent of ballots, had been cast, with the highest turnout rate belonging to the commercial subsector, which had cast 82 per cent, or 76, of its ballots.

The legal sector followed with a rate of 73 per cent, amounting to just 22 votes. Members of the subsector combining the city’s area committees, district crime-fighting committees and district fire safety committees represented the most votes by volume, with 560 ballots, or 52 per cent, already cast.

Only 8,000 voters were deemed eligible for the election, compared with 246,440 voters in the 2016 poll. But Beijing officials have said that, unlike in the past when individual voters accounted for the bulk of the base, a change in favour of corporate voters representing their organisations or sectors, was more representative.

Speaking earlier in the day, Barnabas Fung Wah, chairman of the Electoral Affairs Committee, praised what had been an incident-free operation, while declining to compare the poll under way with previous elections he had also overseen.

“I went to the polling station this morning and the operation went smoothly,” he said, adding that three complaints had been received: two about the conduct of polling staff and one challenging the eligibility of a voter.

Noting queues had been observed at some polling stations, Fung urged voters to come in the afternoon to avoid a long wait.

Labour sector leads early turnout

A little earlier in the day, 14.7 per cent of eligible voters, or 720 out of 4,889, had cast their ballots as of 10am. Among the 13 subsectors taking part, the turnout was highest among labour voters, where 121 of 407, or 29.7 per cent, had taken part.

Early turnout was lowest in the traditional Chinese medicine subsector, where only five of 51 voters, or 9.8 per cent, had cast their ballots so far.

One voter in that sector, Hong Kong Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners Association chairman Chan Wing-kwong, said his group held a meeting ahead of the elections to review the candidates’ campaigns and decide which could most effectively lead Hong Kong’s development.

Hoping for ‘lawmakers and a chief executive who truly represent us’

A heavy police presence was visible around Kowloon Park Sports Centre, where voters were lining up by 9am.

Kowloon City district council member Kitson Yang Wing-kit, voting in the Hong Kong and Kowloon district committees subsector, said he was happy to see a relatively high turnout on Sunday.

“I’m very happy to see the passion here today, and when I arrived this morning people were already queuing up,” Yang said of the dozens on hand.

Echoing comments made by Lam earlier in the morning, Yang insisted the newly expanded Election Committee would be more representative despite the greatly reduced pool of voters, saying the polls reflected residents’ hopes for a chief executive and lawmakers who “truly represent us”.

Another voter for the labour sector, surnamed Wong, said he was unsure about the city’s prospects, but was hoping to do his part in fighting for workers’ rights.

“We just want to represent labour voices, even if we are from different parties, our goal is the same,” he said.

‘Laying a foundation’

Lam, who visited the Wan Chai polling station at 8.30am, described the election as “laying the foundation” for future polls.

“This is the first election since Beijing improved the election system to enforce the principle of patriots governing Hong Kong. This will lay the foundation for two other elections to come,” she said, referring to the Legislative Council election in December and the chief executive race in March next year.

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While acknowledging there were fewer voters compared with previous elections as a result of the overhaul, Lam said the present election was more representative as it included a broader array of grass roots groups.

She said Election Committee members would be asked to take an oath as part of a wider requirement imposed on public officers.

A rare protest

At 8am, four activists from the League of Social Democrats unfurled banners from a few footbridges near the polling venue. “The losers pretend to have public opinion on their side calling a small circle election an improvement,” the banner read.

The four, including Chan Po-ying, the wife of veteran opposition figure “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, were quickly stopped and searched by a dozen police officers at the scene.

Leung has been detained after being charged with 46 others for subversion after taking part in unofficial primaries organised by the opposition camp last year. The group of activists also held up a banner bearing the image of a jail fence and calling for the release of the prisoners.

More to follow …