Voting of Hong Kong's Election Committee elections wraps up

By Xinhua Published: Sep 20, 2021 07:49 AM

Staff members work at a counting station in Hong Kong, south China, Sept. 19, 2021. The voting of the 2021 Election Committee's subsector ordinary elections in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) ran from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time on Sunday. (Xinhua)

Voting of the 2021 Election Committee's subsector ordinary elections in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) ended at 6:00 p.m. local time on Sunday.

This is the first election after the improvements to Hong Kong's electoral system earlier this year.

According to election arrangements, the voting hours began at 9:00 a.m. local time at five ordinary polling stations and one dedicated polling station in Hong Kong. Voters and staff members followed epidemic prevention requirements and the voting was carried out in an orderly manner.

The election went smoothly with a high turnout of voters, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs of the HKSAR government Erick Tsang said, noting that improving the electoral system in Hong Kong is mainly to implement the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong."

"The governance of the HKSAR should be firmly held in the hands of people who love China and Hong Kong. Only in this way will Hong Kong have the opportunity to regain the original aspiration of 'one country, two systems,' and get it back on track, which will play a key role in achieving good governance and long-term stability in Hong Kong," he said.

On March 11, a decision on improving the electoral system of the HKSAR was adopted with an overwhelming majority vote at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress.

According to the decision, the Election Committee, expanded to 1,500 members of five sectors, is responsible for electing the Chief Executive designate and part of the LegCo members, as well as for nominating candidates for the Chief Executive and LegCo members.

Out of the 1,500 seats of the Election Committee, 325 people were determined to be validly registered as ex-officio members, 156 persons were validly nominated to be members of the Election Committee and 603 candidates would be uncontested, while 412 candidates would contest for 364 seats.

The actual number of members of the Election Committee will be fewer than 1,500 due to the LegCo election yet to be held and the overlapping status of some ex-officio members.