An Historic Election to Come

Lee (right) talks to polling staff to prepare for tomorrow

On the eve of the Legislative Council election, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai says the government has not set a target for turnout, and accused anti-China forces of trying to undermine the poll by calling for a boycott.

He said on a radio program that he had noticed some foreign forces had appealed to people to cast blank votes while saying that a low turnout would mean that the new electoral system is a failure.

Lee warns "foreign forces" will not succeed

Tsang failed to explain who these "foreign forces" were, and why they would be so keen to spoil this election.

He said their "plot" would not succeed as whatever they did would not change the fact that Hong Kong is part of China and that it is determined to restore order in the SAR.

Meanwhile Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu says this weekend's Legco elections will be the largest ever -- with a record number of election staff on hand to help voters cast their ballots.

"This election is the largest in scale in Hong Kong's history. A record high of some 40,000 electoral staff will carry out duties related to polling and counting procedures," Lee told workers.

"To enable this election to be conducted smoothly, electoral staff should be committed to work, familiarise themselves with the procedures, and be flexible and adaptive to changes. I call on every colleague to be diligent and devote your full strength to help the government to run this historic election for Hong Kong."

The SMS people received on their phones today

This morning many people reported on Twitter that they received a text message from the government encouraging people to vote -- something it has never done previously.

"Cast your vote for HK -- our Home! LegCo Election is important to you and HK's future! Please vote at your polling station (08.30-22.30) on 19 Dec (Sun)."

Many also noted it was strange for them to get the message considering they were not permanent residents and so they were not eligible to vote...