Hong Kong Democratic Preliminary Internal Election - 580,000 Votes: Greatly Exceed Target

Recently NHK News On-line reported the following:

香港民主派予備選、58万人が投票　目標大きく上回る

香港デモ 習政権 中国・台湾

2020/7/12 23:12 (2020/7/12 23:49更新)

【香港=木原雄士】香港の民主派が実施した立法会（議会）選挙の予備選が12日、2日間の日程を終えた。電子投票の参加者は約58万人と、民主派が目標に掲げた17万人を大きく上回った。政府高官が予備選が香港国家安全維持法に違反する可能性があると発言するなど締め付けが強まり、市民の関心が高まった。

予備選は9月の立法会選に向けて、民主派内の候補者を調整するために実施した。香港内の商店などに設けた約250の投票所には行列ができた。主催者は13日以降に結果を発表する。50人程度の候補者を30人ほどに絞り込む予定だ。

民主派は2019年の区議会議員選挙で獲得した票数の1割にあたる17万人の参加を目標に掲げていた。目標を大きく上回り、立法会選に向けた有権者の関心の高さを示した。

投票直前には民主派の締め付けとも取れる動きが相次いだ。選挙担当の政府高官が予備選が香港国家安全法で禁じた国家分裂や政権転覆にあたる可能性に言及。10日には警察が投票システムを運営する民間団体を捜索し、11日の投票開始が3時間遅れた。

こうした動きに市民が反発を強めた可能性がある。民主派の候補をめぐっては、当局が立候補を認めない可能性が取り沙汰されている。親中派からは香港国家安全法に反対する者の立候補を認めるべきではないとの声が出ている。

Translation

[Hong Kong = Yuji Kihara] The 2-day  preliminary election for the Legislative Council (parliament) held by Hong Kong democrats was ended  on the 12th. The number of participants in this electronic voting was about 580,000, by far exceeding the democratic target of 170,000. While the government officials said that this preliminary election might violate the Hong Kong National Security Act and was putting pressure on this activity, yet the citizens' interest was heightened.

A preliminary round was held to coordinate candidates within the democratic people that aimed at the Legislative Council election in September. There were queues at about 250 polling stations set up in shops etc. in Hong Kong. The organizer would announce the results after the 13th. It was planned to narrow down some 50 candidates to about 30.

While the democrats were aiming for the participation of 170,000 people, which was 10% of the votes received in the 2019 District Council election, the result far exceeded the target and reflected the high interest of voters toward the Legislative Council election.

Immediately before the voting, a series of action were being taken to tighten this democratic activity. A senior government official in charge of elections mentioned that this preliminary election could lead to a division of the country or the subversion of government, which was prohibited by the National Security Law of Hong Kong. On the 10th the police searched a private organization that would operate this voting system, and as such the starting of the voting activity on the 11th was delayed by 3 hours.

Government actions might have caused the citizen to backfire strongly. Regarding the democratic candidates, it was said that the authorities might not endorse them to become the Legislative Council election candidates. Pro-Chinese factions had said that those were against the Hong Kong National Security Law should not be admitted as election candidates.

              I would suggest that the high turn-out rate of this internal voting activity has a deeper meaning: it is an indication of the mood among those who support the democratic movement in Hong Kong. It is a challenge to the new National Security Law newly imposed on Hong Kong people. More than half a million of Hong Kong people have cast their votes this time despite the fact that top government officials said that this activity may have violated the new law. Whether these democratic candidates will be endorsed by the government is another battle the that democrats have to fight.