Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission Justice David Lok meets members of the media on the extension of polling hours for the 2023 District Council Ordinary Election due to the failure of the electronic poll register system on Dec 10, 2023. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
HONG KONG – Polling hours for the 2023 District Council Ordinary Election were extended until midnight Sunday after a failure in the electronic poll register system, according to Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission Justice David Lok.
Lok said that due to the failure of the electronic system at 7:42 pm, a back-up plan was activated and all polling stations started using paper registers to issue ballots from 8:12 pm. He said there was no evidence that it was caused by a cyber attack but further investigation would be required.
Due to the glitch, the commission decided to extend the voting until midnight, Lok said. The District Council geographical constituency election was supposed to wrap up at 10:30 pm.
In the first 11 hours of voting, 1,062,936 people cast their ballots, registering a 24.53 percent turnout, after polling stations opened at 8:30 am on Sunday across 18 districts.
Total 2,454 registered electors of the District Committee constituencies cast their votes in a 96.92 percent turnout rate, as the DCC voting concluded at 2:30 pm.
The first major citywide election to be held after the district governance system was overhauled and the District Councils reformed in line with a “patriots only” policy will usher in the seventh-term District Councils.
Around 4.3 million registered voters are eligible to cast ballots for 88 directly elected seats, out of 470 in all for 18 District Councils. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-Chiu will choose 179, local committees will decide another 176 and rural leaders will hold the remaining 27.
IN PICTURES: Election day
The seventh-term District Councils would hold office from Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 32, 2027.
Polling stations at penal institutions were operational from 9 am to 4 pm.
According to media reports, more than 10,000 police would be deployed to ensure order on the polling day.
The last council elections in 2019 drew a record 71 percent turnout.
9:45 pm
Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission Justice David Lok told members of the media that polling hours would be extended until midnight Sunday after a glitch in the electronic poll register system.
8:49 pm
The Electoral Affairs Commission said that polling hours will be extended after a failure in the Electronic Poll Register system led all polling stations to switch to using the printed-form final register for the issuing ballot papers.
7:30 pm
The number of actual voters in the DGCCs top 1 million - 1,062,936 to be exact - or 24.53 percent of registered voters, as of 7:30 pm.
6:30 pm
After 10 hours of polling, a total of 990,307 voters have cast their ballots in the geographical constituencies, with a turnout rate of 22.85 percent.
5:30 pm
The turnout in DCGCs breached the 20 percent level and hit 21.03 percent, with 911,166 people casting their ballots, as of 5:30 pm.
4:30 pm
The voter turnout in the geographical constituencies hit 19.19 percent with 831,717 people casting their votes, as of 4:30 pm.
3:30 pm
Total 17.33 percent of voters – 751,120 people to be specific – cast their votes in the first seven hours into polling.
Residents enter a polling station at Taikoo Shing to cast their votes in Hong Kong’s 2023 District Council Ordinary Election on Dec 10, 2023. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)
2:30 pm
The voting for the District Committee constituencies concluded amid a high turnout. Out of 2,532 registered electors, 2,454 cast their votes in the election.
Meanwhile, total 670,388 voters cast their votes in first six hours of polling in the DCGCs, marking a 15.47 percent turnout.
1:30 pm
The turnout in DCGCs reached 13.51 percent with 585,609 people casting their votes, while total 2,397 electors cast their votes in a 94.67 percent turnout.
12:30 pm
Four hours into the start of voting, the turnout rate for the geographical constituencies stood at 11.60 percent, with 502,712 electors having voted, data released by the government show.
For the District Committee constituencies, the turnout rate was 88.78 percent, with 2,248 electors having cast their ballots.
Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission Justice David Lok (first left), accompanied by EAC members Professor Daniel Shek (third left) and Bernard Man (second left), visits the Central Command Centre and Statistical Information Centre of the 2023 District Council Ordinary Election at the Kowloon Bay International Trade and Exhibition Centre, Dec 10, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVT)
11:35 am
Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission Justice David Lok, together with EAC members Professor Daniel Shek and Bernard Man, visited a DCGC polling station at Yaumati Catholic Primary School to inspect the operation of the polling station on-site.
“The operation of the polling station is smooth. We are confident that the election will be conducted in an open, honest and fair manner,” he said, calling on registered electors to exercise their civic rights to vote in the election.
11:30 am
In the first two hours of polling, total 398,930 people exercised their voting rights in the DGCCs, marking a 9.21 percent turnout.
Meanwhile, the DCCs saw 2,013 electors casting their votes in a 79.50 percent turnout.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun accompanies elderly residents of the Lok Sin Tong Wan Lap Keung Neighbourhood Elderly Centre in Tsuen Wan to go to the polling station to cast their votes in the District Council Ordinary Election, Dec 10, 2023. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
11 am
Secretary for Labor and Welfare Chris Sun visited the elderly residents at the Lok Sin Tong Wan Lap Keung Neighbourhood Elderly Centre in Tsuen Wan to inspect the arrangements for transporting the elderly voters to polling stations.
The Labour and Welfare Bureau arranged transportation for the elderly resident to go to the polling stations to cast their votes.
10:30 am
A total of 270,310 voters cast their ballots in a 6.24 percent turnout in the DCGC poll, while 1,535 voted in the DCC election, marking a 60.62 percent turnout.
10 am
After casting his vote in Fo Tan, Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki said District Councils serve as important consultative bodies that bridge the government and the people.
ALSO READ: Residents hopeful DC election to lift people's well-being
“It’s not enough for the government alone to make good policies. I think residents must cooperate by telling us what they like, what they want us to do more, and which areas they want us to focus more on,” he said to reporters.
9:30 am
In the first hour of voting, 135,255 people cast their ballots in the District Council geographical constituency election, registering a 3.12 percent turnout.
In the District Committee constituencies, 822 registered electors, or 32.46 percent, cast their vote till 9:30 am.
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai talks to the media after casting his vote in the District Council Election 2023 in Taikoo Shing, Hong Kong, Dec 10, 2023. (PARKER ZHENG/ CHINA DAILY)
9:30 am
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai cast his vote at the Eastern District Junior Police Call Club House in Taikoo Shing.
Talking to the media later, he said all the polling stations across the city were working smoothly. “We saw an enthusiastic voting situation in the morning. Of course, we hope that people will continue to vote enthusiastically.”
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and his wife Janet Lee Lam Lai-sim pose with thanksgiving cards they received after casting their votes in the 2023 District Council Ordinary Election at the Raimondi College, Hong Kong on Dec 10, 2023 (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)
9:15 am
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and his wife Janet Lee Lam Lai-sim cast their votes at Raimondi College.
READ MORE: Lee says DC polls the 'final piece in patriots governing HK'
Speaking to the media after casting his vote, he said: “The voting process was fast and smooth. I also saw other residents voting at the polling station and our polling station colleagues were very professional and passionate.”
8:40 am
Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission Justice David Lok chaired the second meeting of the Crisis Management Committee to closely monitor the conduct of the election in real time.
At the meeting, representatives of the relevant government departments briefed the EAC on various aspects, including the latest intelligence of security risks, ballot paper delivery status and the latest preparation status of the polling stations.
ALSO READ: Exit poll agency named for Sunday election
Justice Lok was pleased to learn that all polling stations had opened on time and the polling staff were all ready to perform their duties to serve the electors.
