Hong Kong's 1st Polls Since New Security Law, Only 'Patriots' Can Vote
NDTV
The Hong Kong elections - in which only candidates screened by the government as "patriots" can run - has been criticised by some activists, foreign governments and rights groups.
Hong Kong government efforts and last-ditch campaigning by candidates were struggling on Sunday to boost turnout in an overhauled "patriots"-only legislative election, the first under a sweeping new security law.
After eight hours of voting, turnout was more than 10 percentage points below the previous Legislative Council election five years ago.
The election - in which only candidates screened by the government as "patriots" can run - has been criticised by some activists, foreign governments and rights groups while mainstream pro-democracy parties are not participating.
Turnout is a central issue, as observers consider it a barometer of legitimacy in an election where pro-democracy candidates are largely absent, more than a third of the seats will be selected by a committee stacked with Beijing loyalists and a crackdown under a China-imposed national security law has jailed scores of democrats. Civil society groups have disbanded.
