Lengthy queues snaked out of polling stations across the territory in the election for 18 district councils.
Pro-Beijing candidate Starry Lee is surrounded by supporters of former lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, also known as"long hair" during the district council elections in the To Kwa Wan North constituency of the Kowloon City District Council in Hong Kong on November 24, 2019.
It was already the highest turnout in Hong Kong's history of district council elections post-handover, with several hours of voting still to go. "Even though one ballot can only help a little, I still hope it can bring change to society and support street protests in some way," 19-year-old student Michael Ng, voting for the first time, told AFP.Unwell and injured protesters wait for medics at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
But the polls are not entirely symbolic: some candidates for next year's legislative elections will be drawn from district councillors, and the bodies also will contribute 117 members to the 1,200-strong Beijing-controlled electoral college that chooses the chief executive.Protests have been muted in recent days after pro-democracy figures urged citizens to cease disruptions to avoid giving the government an excuse to delay or suspend the polls.
The bill was eventually withdrawn as public pressure grew, but the anger that it unleashed sparked wider calls for democracy.
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