Hong Kong is on tenterhooks Monday morning after pivotal elections for the city’s parliament saw record turnout numbers and lines stretching around the block.
Tensions were high as pro-democracy parties sought to maintain a majority of democratically elected seats in the Legislative Council that allows them to block certain legislation.
People were still voting at some polling stations at 2 a.m. local time Monday morning, three and half hours after the 10:30 p.m. deadline. The poll is the first major election since the financial center was rocked by pro-democracy street protests in 2014 — also known as the “Umbrella Revolution.”
More than 2.2 million people voted, according to the Electoral Affairs Commission, with a turnout of 58% — up from 53% in 2012. Hong Kong does not permit postal voting or early voting.
New generation
Preliminary results suggest that a younger generation of more radical, pro-democracy politicians won a larger-than-expected share of votes.
Nathan Law, one of the student leaders of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, has been elected on Hong Kong Island, according to preliminary results. His constituency elects six seats and he is currently in second place, with 90% of votes counted.
Law co-founded Demosisto with activist Joshua Wong, who was unable to run as he is not yet 21. Law, 23, will be Hong Kong’s youngest ever lawmaker.
Speaking Sunday before the results, Wong told CNN he hoped the election would prove to be “fair.”
He said Hong Kong has faced an uptick in “political censorship” and the “suppression or interference with autonomy” since the 2014 protests.
Other young former Umbrella Movement protesters also look set to win seats. Including Youngspirations’ Sixtus Baggio Leung, who was endorsed by pro-independence activist Edward Leung. The latter Leung was one of several candidates controversially blocked from standing in this year’s election.
Another Youngspiration candidate, Yau Wai-ching, is in a tight contest in the Kowloon West constituency. Should she win, all six lawmakers elected there will be women.
Above and beyond
Voters defied early predictions that turnout would be lower, with 400,000 more people voting than in 2012. Lines stretched around the block in certain districts, as many complained online of poorly staffed polling stations.
In Tai Koo, on Hong Kong Island, voters were still lining up as of 2 a.m. local time Monday.
Others went out of their way to ensure they would be able to take part. Post-graduate student Deryck Chan, 25, flew back from the UK to cast his vote.
“I made sure to book my leave to coincide with the elections,” he told CNN.