Explained: how Hong Kong’s legislative candidates are voted in

Hong Kong’s voting system is more than a simple popularity contest. Its aim is to use proportional representation to allocate seats in the Legislative Council.

There are 70 seats in Legco and 35 go to candidates in the geographical constituencies. Each geographical constituency has a fixed number of seats to fill, determined by the constituency’s population size. Hong Kong uses proportional representation to return its lawmakers.

Here’s how the current Legco looks.

As there are more candidates than seats in the geographical constituencies, the election becomes like a game of musical chairs, only with more significant consequences.

Two principles form the heart of Hong Kong’s electoral system: quotas and remainders.

The quota

A quota is the number of votes divided by the number of seats available. In other words, it’s the number of votes a candidate needs to receive in order to be elected.