Hong Kong elections: votes cast at border will not hit ‘anywhere near 100,000’, Carrie Lam concedes, as just over 18,000 in mainland China have registered for Legco poll

Registration for voting at Heung Yuen Wai, Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line border-control points closes on Wednesday at 6pm

Civil servants working at polling stations, meanwhile, will be allowed to go home to cast their own ballots during off-peak hours and given access to priority queues

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Carrie Lam on Tuesday said it was unlikely a last-minute surge in registrations for voting at border checkpoints such as Heung Yuen Wai (pictured) was in the offing. Photo: May Tse

Published: 2:14pm, 7 Dec 2021Updated: 10:12pm, 7 Dec 2021

About 18,000 Hong Kong residents living in mainland China have signed up to vote under a special arrangement for the Legislative Council election on December 19, far fewer than the 100,000 the government’s scheme can accommodate.

With registration set to close, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday conceded a late surge in sign-ups for the unprecedented scheme – aimed at giving those stranded by the Covid-19 pandemic a way to vote – was unlikely.

“Registration will expire [on Wednesday]. It seems the number will not rise to anywhere near 100,000,” she said ahead of her weekly press briefing.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday reiterated that the government was unconcerned with voter turnout for the Legislative Council election. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

The government announced late last month that polling stations would be set up at three border control points – Heung Yuen Wai, Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line – to allow Hongkongers living on the mainland to cast ballots without undergoing quarantine.

The plan requires participants to stay within a designated area on the Hong Kong side of the checkpoint before returning immediately after casting their vote.

The arrangement has been viewed by some as an attempt to boost turnout amid fears voters will stay away from the poll, the city’s first for the legislature since Beijing overhauled the electoral system to ensure only “patriots” hold political power.

Hong Kong’s mainstream opposition parties, faced with a strict new vetting process controlled by their opponents and with many of their leaders in jail, are sitting the race out entirely.

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