Several high-profile pro-government lawmakers appear to have lost their seats to pro-democracy challengers in Hong Kong's District Council elections, as early results trickled in early Monday morning.
The elections, which have been framed as a de facto referendum on the almost six months of ongoing protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, saw a historic voter turnout of more than 70%.
Speaking to CNN, Kenneth Chan, an expert on politics and governance at Hong Kong Baptist University, said the turnout "exceeded many predictions" and demonstrated both Hong Kongers' commitment to democracy and that they are "counting on this election to point a way out of this impasse."
High profile losses
Outspoken pro-government legislators Michael Tien and Junius Ho both conceded defeat in their districts, according to public broadcaster RTHK and Ho's official Facebook page.
Holden Chow, Horace Cheung, Vincent Cheng, and Edward Lau also appeared to be part of a string of upsets from the pro-Beijing DAB party, according to public broadcaster RTHK, as votes continued to be counted. However, Cheung told reporters it was still "too early to draw conclusions," according to RTHK.
One of the conveners with the Civil Human Rights Fronts (CHRF), Jimmy Sham, claimed a victory for the pro-democracy camp in his district of Sha Tin. CHRF has organized some of the largest marches during Hong Kong's nearly six months of civil unrest.
"Today's result represents Lek Yuen's support to protesters. The government should immediately establish the Five Demands and respond to the public's voices," he posted on Facebook.
And in an apparently narrow win for the pro-Beijing camps, lawmaker Starry Lee secured her re-election against pro-democracy challenger Leung Kwok Hung in Kowloon city district's To Kwa Wan North.
Supporters of Leung Kwok Hung began chanting "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Time" after the local counting station tallied up the votes, with Lee winning by just 300 votes.
More than 2.9 million people voted in the council elections with an electorate turnout rate of 71.2 percent -- a record high, based on the highest-ever amount of registered-voters, according to Barnabus Fung, the chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission.
Polling stations closed late on Sunday night. While election officials have reported results after counting finished in some polling stations, no complete tally has been uploaded by the official elections commission. It is the first time that all 452 constituencies are being contested.
sourced cnn.
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