First Hong Kong district council poll after ‘patriots-only’ electoral overhaul cost taxpayers HK$1.2 billion
- With record-low election turnout of 27.59 per cent, government spent an average of HK$102 on publicity for each vote in December 10 poll
- Sum was about 90 per cent more than HK$635 million spent on 2019 election
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.
The sum was 91.8 per cent more than the HK$635 million spent on the 2019 election. The government told lawmakers back in March 2019 that only HK$7.5 million had been set aside for a three-stage promotion campaign for that year’s election.
The total cost of the 2023 election was spent across three financial years. Out of a revised budget of HK$992 million for the 2023-24 financial year, HK$235 million was spent on staff costs and HK$122 million was attributed to publicity.
The bureau told lawmakers in January that for the publicity drive more than 1.5 million posters and leaflets were printed, about 4,000 adverts were placed on public transport, nearly 99,000 bunting rows were hung up and 359 large billboards were set up.
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Polls open in Hong Kong’s new ‘patriots-only’ district council election
The all-out promotion blitz included countless public appearances and social media posts by officials from October to December. An Observatory forecaster even reminded the audience about the election in a weather segment aired in November.
