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.
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 Legislative Council 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.
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, who has been elected on Hong Kong Island. Law co-founded Demosisto with activist Joshua Wong, who was unable to run as he is not yet 21.
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.
Independence
The polls have been defined by questions over Hong Kong independence, with several candidates barred from standing for their pro-independence views.
Predictions that the move would spark a backlash appear to have played out, with several candidates endorsed by pro-independence activist Edward Leung posting better-than-expected showings.
Sixtus Baggio Leung, who ran for another party founded by Umbrella Movement protesters — Youngspiration, looks on course to win a seat in the New Territories East constituency, where Edward Leung won 15% of the vote in a 2015 by-election but was barred from re-contesting, while Yau Wai-ching is in a tight contest in Kowloon West, as votes are still counted.
Final results are expected around noon local time. It is still unclear whether the pan-democratic camp will maintain the requisite seats to veto certain legislation.