Maggie Ho reports
It looks as if there will be a strong turnout in today's District Council election, the first major poll since the Occupy Campaign last year, with over 860 candidates vying for 360 seats.
As of 2.30 this afternoon, 21 percent of the electorate had voted -- compared to nearly 19 percent at the last district-level vote in 2011. It had a final turnout of 41 percent.
Although District Councils play a mainly advisory role in Hong Kong's executive-led government, the result will show the level of support for the pan-dems in the wake of Occupy Campaign, as next year's more important Legco election approaches.
But in spite of the partisanship of Hong Kong politics, many voters have been finding it hard to discover which political camps their candidates belong to, because 300 out of 867 claim to be independent.
Many of them, though, do have ties with one camp or another. On the pan-democrats' side, some 270 people from established parties and independents are on an approved list of candidates. They face stiff competition from well-funded pro-establishment candidates, who analysts predict will win the lion's share of the seats.
But the political divide has shifted since the last district council election with dozens of young pan-dem newcomers - dubbed 'Umbrella Soldiers' by the local press - entering the political arena.
They decided to get involved following the Occupy Campaign, and their presence could tip the balance in some seats, or divide the pan dem vote in others.
The outcome is expected to be announced in the early hours of Monday.
As of 2.30 this afternoon, 21 percent of the electorate had voted -- compared to nearly 19 percent at the last district-level vote in 2011. It had a final turnout of 41 percent.
Although District Councils play a mainly advisory role in Hong Kong's executive-led government, the result will show the level of support for the pan-dems in the wake of Occupy Campaign, as next year's more important Legco election approaches.
But in spite of the partisanship of Hong Kong politics, many voters have been finding it hard to discover which political camps their candidates belong to, because 300 out of 867 claim to be independent.
Many of them, though, do have ties with one camp or another. On the pan-democrats' side, some 270 people from established parties and independents are on an approved list of candidates. They face stiff competition from well-funded pro-establishment candidates, who analysts predict will win the lion's share of the seats.
But the political divide has shifted since the last district council election with dozens of young pan-dem newcomers - dubbed 'Umbrella Soldiers' by the local press - entering the political arena.
They decided to get involved following the Occupy Campaign, and their presence could tip the balance in some seats, or divide the pan dem vote in others.
The outcome is expected to be announced in the early hours of Monday.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1225089-20151122.htm
