In
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, geographical constituencies, as opposed to
functional constituencies, are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated
constituencies
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
. There are currently 5 geographical constituencies in Hong Kong, returning 35 members to the Legislative Council. Following the
2021 electoral reforms passed by the
Standing Committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
of the mainland
National People's Congress, the number of members returned by geographical constituencies would be lowered to 20, while the total number of seats in the Legislative Council would be increased to 90.
History
Geographical constituencies (GC) were first introduced in Hong Kong's first legislative election with direct elections in
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
. 18 constituencies, each returning 2 members using
plurality block voting was created for the
1991 election. Under
Chris Patten's electoral reform, single-member constituencies were introduced for geographical constituencies in the
1995 election. After the
transfer of sovereignty in 1997, the
Provisional Legislative Council
The Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) was the interim legislature of Hong Kong that operated from 1997 to 1998. The legislature was founded in Guangzhou and sat in Shenzhen from 1996 (with offices in Hong Kong) until the handover in 1997 an ...
enacted the Legislative Council Ordinance (Cap. 542) which stipulated the use of party-list
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
with seats apportioned by the
largest remainder method
The largest remainder method (also known as Hare–Niemeyer method, Hamilton method or as Vinton's method) is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. It contrasts with variou ...
under the
Hare Quota. Between
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
and
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, 5 geographical constituencies were established returned by proportional representation with 3-9 seats each:
In 2010, the Government's
motion for amending Annex II of the Basic Law was passed. As a result, 5 new seats were added to Geographical Constituencies, making a total of 35.
Changes to electoral system
The following table summarises the changes to the electoral system of Geographical Constituencies since 1991:
Changes to districting
The following table charts the evolution of districting of geographical constituencies of the LegCo:
2021 electoral reform
20 seats of the Legislative Council are returned by geographical constituencies (GC) through
single non-transferable vote with a district magnitude of 2 ("binomial system"). The binomial system was instituted by the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in its amendment to Annex 2 of the
Basic Law on 30 March 2021.
The proportional representation system used between 1998 and 2016 was scrapped. The reduction of the number of members returned by geographic constituencies has been described as "significantly curbing democratic representation in
Hong Kong's institutions".
These changes have been described as a shift in power away from Hong Kong's urban core and towards the outer, less densely-populated regions closer to mainland China, where pro-Beijing candidates tend to fare better.
10 geographical constituencies were established for the
2021 election:
See also
*
Elections in Hong Kong
Elections in Hong Kong take place when certain political offices in the government need to be filled. Hong Kong has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in the Legislative Council. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong is nonpartisan but has ...
*
Hong Kong legislative elections
Legislative elections are held in Hong Kong every four years Legislative Council (LegCo) in accordance with Article 69 of the Basic Law. Legislative elections are held either at the expiry of a four-year term or when the Chief Executive dissolves ...
*
List of constituencies of Hong Kong
This is a list of constituencies of Hong Kong, there are currently ten geographical constituencies and 28 functional constituencies that elect 50 out of 90 members to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. The structure of both constituency cat ...
*
Party-list proportional representation
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geographical Constituency
Politics of Hong Kong
Legislative election
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Constituencies