With a turnout of more than 600,000, which equals to nearly half of votes received by the pro-democracy camp in the 2016 general election, it was the most-participated primary held in the history of Hong Kong, despite the SAR government's threats of the organisers' potential breaching of the newly imposed national security law.

Traditional pro-democrat parties lost ground to the localist new faces, with an unofficial six-person alliance led by Joshua Wong and Nathan Law of the disbanded Demosistō becoming the biggest winner in the primaries.

The election, organised by Benny Tai and former Legislative Council member Au Nok-hin,[3] coordinated by Power for Democracy, was set to take place from 11 to 12 July between 9 am and 9 pm.

Voters were required to submit proof of residency or electoral register identification, and bring a smartphone to designated polling stations where they would scan the QR code and fill out their personal details to vote.

[4] The Kwai Chung-based small political group Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre (NWSC) which held one seat in the legislature also declared they would not follow the agreement in which a losing candidate in the primaries would not participate in the general election.

Hours after the approval, leading members of pro-democracy group Demosistō Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, Agnes Chow and Jeffrey Ngo announced their departure from the party.

He added that vetoing the budget would not constitute "seriously interfering in, disrupting, or undermining the performance of duties and functions" of the government under Article 22 of the new law because the chief executive has the power to dismiss the legislature and call a by-election.

[10] At night, Hong Kong Police raided the Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) office in Wong Chuk Hang, accusing the organisation of dishonest use of a computer.

[13] Former legislator "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung of the League of Social Democrats managed only ninth place in New Territories East for which only the top seven candidates would run in the general election.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam issued a strong warning to the candidates and organisers of the primaries, saying it was subversive for them to vow to seize control of the legislature and vote down key government proposals.

[14] It named Benny Tai as a suspect in a possible breach of the national security law by coordinating with the opposition camp to seek control of the legislature, vote down the budget, paralyse the government and subvert the state power.

[15] Benny Tai defended that the candidates were not seeking to undermine the performance of duties and functions by the body of power of the central government or of Hong Kong, referring to their agreement that pro-democrats should veto the budget if they were voted into the legislature.

In a statement, Pompeo said Washington would be watching developments in Hong Kong closely and urged the Legislative Council general election in September to be "equally free and fair".