Highs and lows mark functional constituencies races

Jane Cheung

Turnout in the functional constituencies was a study in contrast: the highest was 98.96 percent in the new commercial sector for mainland enterprises and the lowest was 18.27 percent in social welfare, a traditional turf for pro-democrats.

As of 9.30pm yesterday, overall turnout for functional constituencies was 29.18 percent, with 67,654 among 218,811 electors casting votes to choose 30 lawmakers among 67 candidates.

The turnout was a low 27.9 to 32.19 percent for four sectors, including education, legal and accountancy previously dominated by pro-democrats, as well as medical and health services, whose last lawmaker Pierre Chan Pui-yin was not pro-establishment.

Architectural, surveying, planning and landscape sector saw a low turnout of 36.71 percent, and engineering 47.45 percent.

The seven constituencies each comprise 7,549 to 85,117 voters, including a vast majority of individual electors.

In the Legco election in 2016, these constituencies saw high voter turnouts of between 69.06 percent and 83.65 percent.

Apart from them, 21 other functional constituencies - with 73 to 1,908 voters each - all saw a turnout higher than 50 percent, including seven above 90 percent.

The highest turnout was in the commercial (third sector) with 283 out of 288 electors having cast their votes by 9.30pm. The second was 96.53 percent in agriculture and fisheries, which had 173 voters, followed by technology and innovation - which has the smallest number of 73 voters - at 95.89 percent.

Among three social welfare sector candidates, Third Side chairman Tik Chi-yuen was the only one who is not pro-establishment, who said "if voter turnout was high, I might have a chance to win."

The legal sector used to the bridgehead of the pro-democrats as it had been occupied by the camp since the 1997 handover, with the last lawmaker Dennis Kwok Wing-hang from Civic Party winning 67.69 percent of votes in 2019.

But this time around both candidates are pro-establishment: former Law Society president Ambrose Lam San-keung and legal academia Louis Chen Xiaofeng.

The education sector was also used to be dominated by pro-democrats but this year all five-candidates have pro-establishment backgrounds.

One of them was former principal James Lam Yat-fung, who said people should not compare the election under the new system with previous ones.

Pro-democratic candidates were also absent in the accountancy sector, but centrist candidate Yung Kin was publicly supported by pan-democrat Kenneth Leung Kai-cheong, who is the sector's last lawmaker.

Private doctor David Lam Tzit-yuen was one of five candidates for the medical and health services sector. Former secretary for food and health Ko Wing-man helped him canvass votes.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com