Record turnout in first Hong Kong vote since protests began

Bloomberg

A record number of Hong Kongers cast ballots in district elections by Sunday afternoon, with hours to go before polls were due to close, as they seized the first opportunity to vote
after months of increasingly violent protests calling for greater democracy.
Some 2.5 million people, or roughly 60% of the financial hub’s electorate, had voted by 6:30 pm, the government said. The previous highest turnout was 1.47 million in 2015. Residents faced unusually long lines at polling stations across the city as they came out to vote in the city’s District Council election, with some people waiting since the early morning hours.
“There’s so many people it’s brought tears to my eyes,” said Ng Siu-hong, a councillor for the city’s Central and Western District. “It’s good for me but more importantly good for democracy.”
Ahead of the election, Hong Kong officials warned the vote could be postponed after some candidates came under attack and the city was paralysed, with protesters blocking roads and riot police laying siege to a university. Police are dispatching at least two officers clad in riot gear to each polling booth, which were set to close at 10:30 pm. Results are expected in the early morning hours on Monday.
With the risk of violence ever present, the government said that opening hours for polling stations would be extended if voting can be resumed within 90 minutes of any unexpected disruption. If not, then voting would be suspended until December 1.
The vote comes at a time of unprecedented political polarisation in the city, with divisions hardening as the protests turn more violent.
While most Hong Kongers support the protesters’ goals of an independent inquiry into police abuses and meaningful elections, they’re also increasingly fed up with tactics including
vandalising transport networks, seizing universities and using medieval-style weapons.
“It’s kind of a referendum on the government and everything that’s happened over the past five months,” said Chi-Jia Tschang, who worked at Goldman Sachsa senior director in the Hong Kong office of BowerGroupAsia, which advises companies on business and political risk in the region. “People still want an opportunity to work within the system to have their voices heard. That’s why there’s so much focus on this.”
The district council is the lowest rung of government in the city and councilors have few real powers, mostly advising the chief executive on matters like fixing up parks and organising community activities. Its elections have typically been plagued by low voter turnout and aren’t hugely competitive, compared with those for the Hong Kong’s more powerful Legislative Council.
But they’re being closely watched this year as the first democratic exercise since the protests began in June. Enthusiasm is high among pro-democracy forces, who are hopeful they can pressure Carrie Lam’s administration to become more compromising.
Lord Alton of Liverpool, an independent election observer who will be visiting areas around polling stations in the afternoon, was upbeat about the situation. “The turnout is significantly up so far on previous elections, more than double from four years ago,” he said.
District councillors help appoint 117 of the 1,200 electors who select the chief executive, which would give pro-democracy forces more choice over candidates who must nevertheless still be approved by Beijing.