Turnout was at a record low as Hong Kongers cast ballots for city politicians under Beijing's new 'patriots only' rules which drastically reduce the number of directly elected seats and control who can run for office:
Just over 1.35 million registered voters cast their ballots in the first"patriots only" election — the lowest turnout in three decades.
It is the first legislature poll under the new political blueprint China imposed on Hong Kong in response to massive and often violent pro-democracy protests two years ago. In 2016, 58 per cent of the electorate voted. The worst post-handover turnout to date was 44 per cent in 2000. "Most pro-democracy voters decided to stay away, to express their disapproval of this kind of election by not turning up," he said.As Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam arrived to cast her vote on Sunday morning, three protesters from the pro-democracy League of Social Democrats party chanted: "I want genuine universal suffrage".
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