Voters across the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region cast their ballots in the Legislative Council election on Sunday to pick 90 lawmakers who will serve in office for the next four years.

A total of 161 nominees are in the fray for all 90 seats — 20 seats from 10 geographical constituencies, 30 from 28 functional constituencies and 40 from the Election Committee Constituency.

The election, which is a key part of the city's revamped local governance structure, saw active participation of voters from across society. The authorities set up 612 polling stations, primarily located in schools, community facilities and government buildings.

Voting began at 7:30 am and ended at 11:30 pm, two hours longer than in previous elections. As of 5:30 pm on Sunday, the cumulative voter turnout in the geographical constituencies stood at 23.76 percent — marginally higher than the 21.02 percent recorded at the same time in the previous election — with approximately 981,777 voters having cast their ballots.

Several functional constituencies and the Election Committee segment also reported good voter participation. In the functional constituencies, the overall turnout reached 29.84 percent, while voting within the Election Committee Constituency progressed rapidly, with a high turnout of 97.07 percent.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu arrived at the Raimondi College polling station in the Mid-Levels area shortly after 8:30 am and cast his ballot. He called on all eligible voters in Hong Kong to cast their ballots for representatives who will "drive reform and safeguard disaster victims".