Extra polling stations, longer voting hours to boost Hong Kong election turnout

Hong Kong will introduce four new types of designated polling stations to make it easier for civil servants, medical workers, ethnic minority groups and elderly and disabled residents to vote in the Legislative Council election, while voting will be extended by two hours to 11.30pm.

Beijing’s national security arm in Hong Kong on Friday said it fully supported local authorities’ efforts to combat any moves to disrupt the December 7 election, as the city’s anti-corruption watchdog arrested two men and a woman, aged 55 to 66, for allegedly inciting others not to vote or to cast blank ballots online.

“Some anti-China forces have used different ways to [try to] disrupt or destroy the election in a bid to weaken the legitimacy of the new electoral system,” a spokesman for Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security said, referring to the “patriots-only” electoral overhaul that has been in place since the 2021 poll.

“Election security is a matter of national security and must be fully guaranteed.”

Earlier, Electoral Affairs Commission chairman Justice David Lok Kai-hong announced a raft of new measures which he said sought to address calls to help those working on election day who might be unable to reach their polling stations in time.

“We do not want any person who wants to vote but cannot do so because of some technical difficulties,” Lok said.