Record turn-out for election vote

A record 1.7 million Hong Kongers turned out today for an election that sent a fresh contingent of pro-democracy opposition politicians to the legislature.

The contest was plunged into controversy before the results were even tallied, when it emerged that polling stations ran short of ballot boxes, prompting some angry people to just give up rather than wait to vote.

Politicians from the opposition Democratic Party conceded they had probably fallen short of expectations, after two candidates became embroiled in campaign scandals. One remains locked up in mainland China after allegedly being caught with a prostitute.

“The scandals hurt us a lot,” said Democratic Party lawmaker Fred Li, who apparently won a seat. The Democrats accused pro-Beijing rivals of stirring up the controversies, which the Beijing side repeatedly denied.

TV exit polls predicted one huge headache for the government – victory by a veteran activist known for chanting slogans, burning flags and demanding a fuller explanation from China for its deadly military crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement.

If “Longhair” Leung Kwok-hung ends up inside the legislature instead of staging protests outside it, he could become a major nuisance for unpopular Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.

“The pro-China figures have been targeting the democratic side, but now they’ve got somebody even more radical to contend with,” political scientist Ivan Choy said.

Another apparent winner, according to exit polls, was the outspoken former radio host Albert Cheng, who went off the air in May amid alleged threats over his pro-democracy comments – one of the biggest controversies in a campaign that was allegedly full of smears and intimidation tactics.

Many Hong Kong voters clearly were frustrated by Beijing’s recent decision ruling out full democracy in the near term despite widespread demands for universal suffrage.

As votes were counted, outrage grew over the shortage of ballot boxes. It was not clear how many polling stations were affected or how many people were unable to vote.

“This is very serious,” said independent lawmaker Margaret Ng, who was seeking re-election. “I don’t care whether it was a careless mistake or whether it was a conspiracy. One is just as unforgivable as the other. And what would the world think?”

Constitutional Affairs Secretary Stephen Lam apologised and promised an immediate investigation.

Half of the 60 seats were directly elected, with 3.2 million people registered to vote, while the other half were picked by less than 200,000 members of special interest groups such as business, law and accounting that tend to back Beijing.

Analysts had predicted pro-democracy politicians could claim 25-28 seats - compared with 22 in the current legislature.

Initial TV exit polls, conducted for local media by Hong Kong University researchers, suggested the opposition might end up around the lower range of expectations. Political scientist Ma Ngok said the pro-democracy camp would likely get 24-25 seats.

Final tallies were not expected until tomorrow morning.

Lam said 1.7 million ballots were cast, exceeding the previous record of almost 1.49 million in 1998.

Turnout was around 53%, roughly matching the record figure from 1998, Lam said.