There’s less than four weeks to go before the District Council elections, the first electoral contest between pro-government and pan-democrat forces since the beginning of the Umbrella Movement. 935 candidates are running for 431 seats, however 68 of them are uncontested. Not everyone is open about their allegiances, but of those who are 297 candidates say they are pro-government and 178 are pan-democrat. More than 3.6 million people are registered as voters. There’s been a 5% increase in the 18-20 age group’s registration but an 18% increase in voters aged 66-70. This time around far more candidates are declaring themselves to be “independent”, but – as often – all is not as it seems. More on that in part two. First though, a considerable number of candidates are claiming to be Umbrella Movement or Yellow Ribbon candidates. Well some are, and others are so-called “fake umbrella soldiers” which suggests that pro-Beijing organisations are well aware of the votes to be gained from claiming to be democratically inclined.

On Monday, Ming Pao Daily revealed that at least 88 of the 384 candidates in this year’s District Council elections who say they are independent, either belong to, or have close ties to, pro-government organisations. Although election law does not require candidates to declare their political affiliations, one pro-government group with 161 candidates has almost as many as the main pro-government party, the DAB, with 171.