HONG KONGERS BEGAN casting ballots for city lawmakers today under Beijing’s new “patriots only” rules which drastically reduce the number of directly elected seats and control who can run for office, with turnout muted at the midway point.

It is the first legislature poll under the new political blueprint China imposed on Hong Kong in response to massive and often violent pro-democracy protests two years ago.

All candidates have been vetted for their patriotism and political loyalty to China and only 20 of the 90 legislature seats will be directly elected.

The largest chunk of seats — 40 — will be picked by a committee of 1,500 staunch Beijing loyalists.

The remaining 30 will be chosen by reliably pro-Beijing committees that represent special-interest and industry groups.

At 3:30 pm (07.30 GMT) — halfway through the 14 hour voting period — just under 19 percent of the 4.5 million-strong electorate had cast votes, the lowest midway turnout rate since the city’s 1997 handover to China.

In 2016, 27 percent had cast votes by the same point.

‘Genuine suffrage’ 

Daniel So, a 65-year-old who works in technology, was among the first queuing at a polling centre in the wealthy Mid-Levels district.

“The young people are not so interested in this election because they are misled by foreign politicians and media,” he told AFP. “China is doing so great now.”

As Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam arrived to cast her vote, three protesters from the pro-democracy League of Social Democrats party chanted: “I want genuine universal suffrage”.

“(Lam) said this was an improvement of the electoral system, but in reality, it stripped Hong Kongers of their right to vote,” activist Chan Po-ying told reporters.

The government bought up newspaper front pages and billboards, sent flyers to every household, pinged mobile phones with reminders to vote and made public transport free for the day.

Despite the publicity blitz, the latest polls showed only 48 percent of respondents said they would vote — a record low — and 52 percent said they found no candidate worthy of support.

Starry Lee, chair of the biggest pro-Beijing party, the DAB, urged people to participate.

“The polling stations’ feedback showed that not many people are voting,” she told reporters.

An accountant in her 20s, who gave her name as Loy, said she had no plans to use her ballot.

“My vote won’t mean anything because ultimately it’s Beijing’s people winning,” she told AFP.

In North Point, a district known for pro-government support, a 74-year-old man who gave his surname Lo said he did not know most of the “new faces” on the candidate list but still voted.

“I picked those who would voice opposition, not the yes-men,” he told AFP.

Boycott calls 

Lam has sought to manage expectations, telling state media last week that a low turnoutcould indicate “the government is doing well and its credibility is high”.

Independent polling places her public approval rating at around 36 percent.

Sunday’s election has received vocal backing from Beijing, which sees the new system as a way to root out “anti-China” elements and restore order in a legislature freed from a disruptive opposition.

Critics counter that authoritarian China has all but banned opposition politics in a city that once boasted a rambunctious political scene.

Dozens of prominent opposition figures — including many democrats who won legislature seats in the previous election — have been jailed, disqualified or have fled overseas.

The city’s biggest pro-democracy parties have put forward no candidates and a growing number of Hong Kong activists abroad have also openly advocated a boycott.

“People do not want to vote for a rubber-stamp chamber and pretend everything is all right,” Nathan Law, a former lawmaker now living in Britain who is wanted by Hong Kong authorities, tweeted Sunday.

“This is a fake election and the worst regression in our electoral system,” added Brian Leung, an activist now based in the United States.

Hong Kongers are allowed to cast blank ballots or not vote.

Crime to incite a boycott

But earlier this year, authorities made it a crime to “incite” others to boycott elections or cast blank or spoiled ballots.

Authorities have arrested 10 people under this law so far, mostly for social media posts.

They have also issued arrest warrants for activists overseas who have called for a boycott and threatened Western media outlets with prosecution for editorials critical of the new political system.

Police said they would deploy more than 10,000 officers across the city.