Hong Kong officials have issued warrants accusing five overseas activists of calling for a boycott of Sunday's legislative polls, the first to take place under Beijing's "patriots only" rules.

Authorities accused Britain-based campaigner Nathan Law of inciting people to boycott the vote during a web conference held earlier this month.

Voters in the city are set to pick a new legislature under rules that have vetted potential candidates for "patriotism" and cut the number of directly-elected seats to 20 from a total of 90 seats.

Most of the city's traditional pro-democracy opposition have either been jailed, barred from standing, declined to take part or fled overseas.

The arrest warrants also named Sunny Cheung, Timothy Lee, Carmen Lau and Kawai Lee — all of whom have left Hong Kong.

New crime to call for boycott

It is not illegal in Hong Kong to cast spoiled ballots or refrain from voting, but this year it became a crime to incite others to a boycott or cast invalid ballots.

Accused offenders face up to three years behind bars and a fine of HK$200,000 (€22,800, $25,600).

The group of activists hosted a livestream on social media on Thursday, during which they allegedly urged voters to stay home instead of voting.

Authorities also cited social media content posted by Cheung, who is currently seeking asylum in the United States.

The warrants come as Hong Kong officials are actively working to increase voter turnout on Sunday.

Officials hope to boost turnout

Senior officials have made high-profile appeals to voters, and public transport operators said they would provide free transportation on election day.

Lam, the city's leader, last week told the Global Times, a nationalist paper published by the Chinese ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, that turnout was affected by many factors.

"There is a saying that when the government is doing well and its credibility is high, the voter turnout will decrease because the people do not have a strong demand to choose different lawmakers to supervise the government," Lam said. "Therefore, I think the turnout rate does not mean anything."

She has said the elections were now "much more representative with more balanced participation" and would elect those "who are patriotic to govern the city.”

​​Last month, Hong Kong issued similar arrest warrants for two other overseas activists including former lawmaker Ted Hui.

An additional 10 people have been arrested inside the city and two formally charged with violating the regulations.

Hong Kong's anti-corruption agency said investigations were ongoing and it would continue to take resolute enforcement action.

Beijing says that Hong Kong's new voting system was designed with the aim of putting the city back on track, following huge pro-democracy protests two years ago.

lc/aw (AFP, Reuters)