First Hong Kong district council poll after ‘patriots-only’ electoral overhaul cost taxpayers HK$1.2 billion

Hong Kong’s first “patriots-only” district council election last year that yielded a record-low turnout rate cost taxpayers about HK$1.2 billion (US$153.2 million), just over 90 per cent more than in 2019 when four times more popularly elected seats were up for grabs.

The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau told the Legislative Council on Tuesday that the latest cost estimate for the December 10 election was HK$1.218 billion.