Overview
- Polls opened Sunday to fill 90 Legislative Council seats under a system that vets candidates as “patriots” and leaves only 20 seats chosen by direct vote.
- By 11:30 a.m. local time about 15% of registered voters had cast ballots, compared with the 30.2% overall turnout recorded in 2021, according to AP.
- Chief Executive John Lee urged residents to vote and said the new legislature would be asked to pass relief and reconstruction funding, with a judge-led inquiry already announced.
- Authorities are probing the fire that killed at least 159 people, arresting 15 construction workers on suspicion of manslaughter and examining suspected substandard renovation materials.
- Enforcement tightened around the vote, with the ICAC saying seven people were arrested for allegedly inciting a boycott and police detaining at least three critics on suspected sedition.