Voting for DC polls ends as clock strikes twelve
Voting for the District Council elections drew to a close on Monday at midnight, after authorities extended the opening time of polling stations by one and a half hours due to an electronic poll register system failure.  The glitch had led to election officials switching to printed copies for the voter register to issue ballot papers since 8.12pm.  DAB chairperson Gary Chan said it was a suitable arrangement to extend voting hours, but noted that it brought inconvenience to some people. Chan also said people could lodge an appeal if they find the arrangement unfair.  Other political party leaders, including New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip, said the technical issue would deal a blow to voting.  She said it was "useless" to extend voting hours, because streets were already quiet by then.  "No one would be at places such as Taikoo Shing, and we wouldn't even dare to make noises, because it would disturb others. It's even quieter at the Central and Western District," she said.  "Many of our middle-class supporters were planning to vote when they go home after dinner...but with the issue and the rain, some became uninterested and angry. It's difficult for us to ask them to come back out to vote."  Stanley Ng, the president of the Federation of Trade Unions, demanded an explanation from the government. He said the issue had impacted his party, with some voters giving up to cast their ballots. As of 7:30 pm on Sunday, over a million people -- or around 24.53 percent of eligible voters -- had cast their ballots. Election officials have not updated the count since then.