Polls close after Hong Kong's record-breaking elections

There may soon be a better sense of how much progress the protest movement in Hong Kong has made.

Polls closed Sunday in Hong Kong after a district council election day that turned into the city's largest ever. Since the early hours of the morning, millions of people flocked to polling stations. The number of voters had reportedly shot past the final total of voters from the 2015 elections by lunchtime, and The South China Morning Post reports that there was 69 percent turnout, a far higher mark than four years ago.

Of course, this isn't any old election. Hong Kong has been mired in turmoil for months with the city's anti-Beijing movement growing even more tense in recent weeks. The result should serve as a barometer for support for the pro-democracy, anti-government protests, as well as for the city's Chief Executive Carrie Lam, whose leadership has been called into question by the demonstrators.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The protest groups had called upon voters to refrain from disrupting the elections and there has reportedly been no sign of trouble, providing the metropolis with a moment of calm, though police were reportedly maintaining watch over polling throughout the day. Read more at BBC and The South China Morning Post.