An estimated 31.4 per cent of voters had cast their ballots by 10.30pm on Sunday in Hong Kong’s second Legislative Council election under a “patriots-only” system, beating the record low turnout of 2021 in a sombre poll held just 12 days after the tragic fire in Tai Po.
Almost as soon as polls opened, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said he would enlist the newly elected legislature to mobilise support for victims of the fire and implement robust systemic reform, beginning with a motion to be raised by the government and a law to ban smoking at all construction sites.
The legislative procedure for the smoking ban was expected to take just two months and Lee vowed to implement changes well before the full conclusions of an independent committee he has pledged to set up to investigate the blaze that claimed 159 lives.
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“My goal is to find out the truth and hold those responsible accountable,” Lee said after casting his vote at 8.30am, an hour after polling opened, and urging residents to go out and “vote for reform”.
“The Legislative Council has many powers; we need to cooperate on passing public budgets and lawmaking, plugging existing loopholes, making the city safer and assuring the public,” he said.
Although the turnout rate was slightly higher than in the 2021 election, the number of registered voters declined by 340,000, or 7.6 per cent, to about 4,131,000.