Legco Polls Turnout Wasn't Too Low: Erick Tsang

Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Secretary Erick Tsang on Wednesday downplayed the record low turnout of 30.2 percent in the Legislative Council elections in December last year.

At a virtual Legco meeting, lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen asked Tsang what he thought of the turnout rate in the geographical constituency races, to which the minister replied that he didn’t think it was particularly low, pointing to similar showings in polls including the New York mayoral contest and French regional elections.

Tsang added that people should not simply look at the figures to judge the election outcome.

"When we look at the so-called higher voter turnout previously, we shouldn’t forget that it was when society was the most divided and experiencing its darkest time with violence raging across the city, and many anti-China disruptors had attempted to enter the legislature, or even the establishment,” he said.

“Were all these beneficial to Hong Kong’s long-term development? I think everyone knows the answer.”

Tsang also said the number of invalid votes cast in the latest Legco polls was actually lower than that in the 2016 elections.

According to a report by the Electoral Affairs Commission, more than 27,000 invalid votes came from the geographical constituencies, with more than half of them blank ballots.

Another 3,200 invalid ballots belonged to electors from sector-based functional constituencies.

The secretary noted that a dozen people have been arrested for allegedly urging others to cast invalid or blank ballots in the polls.

He also told lawmakers that the government is open to improving electoral arrangements, including the idea of electronic voting.