[5] The protests were maintained and escalated as Lam refused to fully withdraw the bill, resulting in strong anti-government sentiment that fed into the November District Council election, where the pro-Beijing parties suffered historic defeat, losing about two-thirds of their seats.

He also initiated "ThunderGo plan 2.0", which mirrored his coordinating mechanism of "smart voters" in the 2016 election to strategic voting to increase the chance of the pro-democracy candidates.

[8] Political analysts speculated that one of the key tasks for Luo and Xia was to make sure that the pro-Beijing camp retained its majority in the legislature in the coming election.

[11] Pro-democracy camp and various national governments expressed concern that the Chinese plans would undermine Hong Kong autonomy and the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.

Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung said the details of the legislation show "Beijing's power is stabbing right into Hong Kong's judicial and administrative organs like a sword."

[12] In June, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang suggested that anyone who opposed the coming national security law would be disqualified from September's Legislative Council elections.

Later that day, the party announced its complete disbandment, saying that the resignation of several key members in light of the national security law made it difficult for it to continue its operations.

[21] Incumbent legislator Joseph Lee of the Health Services constituency also lost to Winnie Yu of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, a labour union in Hong Kong.

[21] The months-long anti-government protests and the alleged initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak cost Carrie Lam's administration substantial public support.

[26] Political scientist Ivan Choy believed the alliance was set up as a part of the electioneering of the pro-Beijing camp in the coming election and to support Beijing's Hong Kong policy.

[27] In mid July amid another spike of new confirmed coronavirus cases in the city, Tam Yiu-chung, the sole representative from Hong Kong on NPCSC, suggested that the government should not rule out postponing the upcoming election.

He also said that many elderly people had migrated to live in the Greater Bay Area and would prefer not to return to Hong Kong to vote, given that the city implemented a 14-day quarantine requirement for incoming travellers, denying any criticism that the pro-Beijing camp was afraid of losing the election.

[29] Chief Executive Carrie Lam has defended her decision, saying that 68 countries or areas in the world delayed elections while only 49 went ahead as planned, although journalists have pointed out that the outbreak in Hong Kong was not as severe in comparison.

[33] The disqualifications were declared as based on either the candidates having advocated or promoted Hong Kong independence, self-determination as an option for self-determination; solicited intervention by foreign governments into Hong Kong's affairs; expressed "an objection in principle" to the legislation of the national security law; expressed an intention to exercise the functions of a LegCo member by indiscriminately voting down all government legislative proposals, appointments, funding applications and budgets, after securing a majority in the LegCo, in order to force the government to accede to certain political demands; or refused to recognise the People's Republic of China's sovereignty over the Hong Kong.

[35] On 31 July 2020, the last day of the nomination period in the electoral process, Carrie Lam announced her invocation of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to postpone the election for a whole year, citing the resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

However, it did not explain the legal basis for the extension which was in contradiction to the term limit stipulated in Article 69 of the Basic Law, neither did it mention the status of the four incumbent legislators who were barred from running by the returning officers in July.

Hong Kong delegate to the National People's Congress Ip Kwok-him conceded that the decision is inconsistent with the Basic Law Article 69 but argued that it brought "the least shock" to the SAR.

Political scientist Eliza Lee criticised the government decision for not providing any convincing scientific evidence about risks to public health due to the pandemic or consulting the stakeholders including opposition parties.

She cited a recent study conducted by the European Parliamentary Research Service that highlighted the risks created by putting off elections, including denying citizens the chance to bring about a change in policy direction, especially in nations witnessing a backslide in democracy.

"Beijing and the pro-establishment camp are not sure if they can secure a majority in LegCo if the elections were held [now], especially when hundreds of thousands of their supporters cannot return to the city to vote," Ma said, referring to Hongkongers living overseas and across the border in mainland China.

[44] The Hong Kong Bar Association expressed "grave concern" over the postponement of the Legislative Council elections for a year, saying there were "serious doubts" about the legal and evidential basis for the decision.

[46][47] In a court judgement released on 28 May 2021 regarding the denial of bail to Claudia Mo, Judge Esther Toh wrote that the government had "submitted" that "conspiracy would have been carried out to fruition" had the election not been postponed.

[49] White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on 31 July denounced Hong Kong's government decision to delay legislative elections by a year due to coronavirus concerns.

"[50] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the Hong Kong government's decision to postpone the election, saying there was "no valid reason for such a lengthy delay."

"We call on the Hong Kong government to reinstate the eligibility of disqualified candidates so that the elections can take place in an environment conducive to the exercise of democratic rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Basic Law," the statement said.