A new regular feature, Friday Numbers, highlights data in Hong Kong and mainland China
TODAY IS THE first session of Legislative Council under the new electoral arrangements.
As the first in series of Friday Numbers, we walk you through important figures which you may not be aware of in other media.
Image at the top shows a number of the new faces — over the following months and years, we will be helping readers get to know them.
Turnout Rate: 30.2%
This is only part of the voter turnout rate, from the Geographical Constituencies. It represents around 1.3 million people who had cast their ballots in 2021 Legco elections, although the turnout rate is lower than previous Legco elections in 2016. We also have Functional Constituencies and Election Committee Constituency with voting rates of 32.2 and 98.4%
One of the reasons may be attributed to the implementation of a new electoral system – in which “one vote, two seats” voting system has replaced the proportional representation system in Geographical Constituencies.
Elections are much more broadly representative as those lawmakers holding extreme political views are excluded under the new system, along with the establishment of Candidate Eligibility Review Committee which is responsible for assessing and validating the eligibility of candidates.
2) From 6.13% to 20.7%
The minimum percentage of votes of elected members for Geographical Constituencies sharply increased to 20.7% in the 2021 Legco elections from 6.13% in the 2016 Legco elections. Therefore, the elections become more representative and winning candidates truly represent voters in their Geographical Constituencies.
3) From 12 to Zero
The number of seats in Functional Constituencies uncontested dropped from 12 in the 2016 Legco elections to zero in the 2021 elections. The elections in Functional Constituencies become much more democratic and some constituencies are highly competitive.
4) From 30 to 40
The subsectors in the newly-expanded Election Committee has increased to 40 from 30, thereby allowing the composition of the Committee to keep abreast of the times.
Technology and Innovation (30 seats) are newly added in the Second Sector to reflect new changes in the industry.
Representatives of associations of Hong Kong residents in the Mainland (27 seats) are added in the Fourth Sector, thereby Hongkongers’ voices in the Mainland are brought in the Election Committee.
Representatives of HK members of relevant national organisations (110 seats) are also added in the Fifth Sector.