In the previous District Council elections, in 2019, the pro-democracy camp in conjunction with the localist camp achieved its biggest landslide victory in the history of Hong Kong, gaining absolute majority in votes and electoral seats in all of the 18 District Councils and tripling their seats from around 124 to about 388 amid the highly intensified territory-wide anti-government protests.

In response, the Beijing government installed the far-reaching Hong Kong national security law and the massive overhaul of the city's Legislative Council electoral system.

[5] In early July 2021, the government reportedly considered banning 230 councillors to take oath of office and would ask them return their accrued salaries which worth around a million dollars.

[7] The pro-Beijing camp was able to take back control of several councils, including Kowloon City, Kwun Tong, Wan Chai and North District.

[33][37] Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) was second in the pro-democracy camp to declare the intention to join the elections by filling two candidates.

[23] Even pro-Beijing legislator Michael Tien complained about candidates from his party Roundtable being unable to obtain nominations from the "three committees" members.

"[42] Pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) politician Starry Lee refused to predict the voter turnout, but said "I have received only positive feedback from residents" and that it was a "good sign" that election promoting was carried out "in a healthy way.

[45] Amid reports about potential penalties for civil servants who do not cast a ballot, Eric Chan criticised on 3 December unspecified individuals for having "ulterior motives" of spreading false information online.

In response, Eric Chan stressed the government would "definitely not" require civil servants to use the card as proof and called on people not to come up with conspiracy theories.

[54] Civil Service Bureau also reportedly warned government outsourcing companies that not allowing sufficient time for staff to vote may undermine further bidding.

Chairman Stewart Leung, President Keith Graham and Secretary-General Loong Hon-biu of the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong also released a promotional video to urge the industry worker to vote.

[59] Veteran activist Koo Sze-yiu had planned to stage a protest at the Registration and Electoral Office against an "unfair race" on Friday, citing a lack of candidates from the pro-democracy camp.

Koo informed the REO about his demonstration, but he was apprehended by the national security police before he left home on suspicion of attempting or preparing to do an act with a seditious intention.

[62] The police arrested three members of pro-democracy League of Social Democrats on the poll day, suspected of inciting others to intervene in the District Council elections.

Party chairwoman Chan Po-ying and vice-chairs Dickson Chow and Yu Wai-pan were heading to protest outside a polling station where John Lee was expected to cast his vote.

Legislator Priscilla Leung of BPA said about 200 voters left a polling station in Shek Kip Mei during the system failure and fewer than 20 returned later to cast their ballots.

[65] In the early morning on Monday, John Lee said he was "highly concerned" about the technical failure and that a task force led by Senior Counsel Bernard Man, the EAC, and police would be set up to investigate the cause.

Later that morning at an emotional press briefing, Lok, choking up as he spoke, apologised to candidates, campaign teams and voters, saying he was willing to take responsibility for the blunder.

[67] Interim investigation by the commission believed the failure of the electronic poll register system was not due to external attacks but rather problems with computer programs that unnecessarily tied up server resources.

[69] Despite the lower than rumoured target of 30% set by Chinese authorities,[70] Tam Yiu-chung, a major pro-Beijing politician, said the turnout was in line with expectations.

Political commentator James Sung said larger parties have stronger community networks and human resources in the districts, with a greater ability to reach out to and influence voters.