Elite, powerful Hong Kongers vote for Election Committee amid absence of pro-democratic candidates

Hong Kong, September 19 : A few selected and powerful Hong Kongers have started voting on Sunday for the Election Committee amid the absence of pro-democratic candidates. The committee will choose nearly half of the legislature and later the new leader of the city.
The 2021 Hong Kong Election Committee polls were opened at 9 am. The election is being held under the new principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong", China Daily reported on Sunday.
Critics have raised questions that the current ruling system imposed by Beijing has no place for democracy.
For the contested 364 seats, about 5,000 registered voters of the contested subsectors are casting their ballots in five polling stations across the city. In addition to the 364 seats that candidates will compete for, the remaining seats for 27 subsectors are filled automatically, with some being ex-officio members, according to China Daily.
The Election Committee, expanded from 1,200 members to 1,500, is tasked with nominating candidates for the chief executive and the 90-member Legislative Council, China Daily said.
The committee will appoint 40 of the city's 90 seats in the legislature. And special interest groups will choose 30 other seats, however, only 20 will be directly elected.
Sunday's balloting is the first since the nation's top legislature adopted a decision in March on "improving the electoral system" of Hong Kong, according to China Daily.