Elections a 'great harvest' for the NPP: Regina Ip
New People's Party (NPP) chairwoman Regina Ip on Monday said she was very satisfied with the party's performance in the district council elections, describing it as a "great harvest". The NPP fielded 29 candidates, and 15 of them won seats. "Overall our party has done pretty well, particularly in Sha Tin, Tseung Kwan O and Tuen Mun. We’ve not only won seats, but won a very high number of votes,” Ip said. The NPP failed to win anything on Hong Kong Island, but Ip said she was not surprised. “Hong Kong Island is different because the new district boundaries were announced only in July and the district council constituencies have been substantially enlarged. It is difficult for us to expand our coverage quickly in a matter of months,” she said. Ip also said the computer glitch that caused voting to be suspended for a time on Sunday night had a significant impact on the election. She said some people left the polling stations and did not return to vote. “Our own supporters on Hong Kong Island tend to be middle class. It is difficult to mobilise them at night, particularly when it’s raining. For example, in Mid-Levels along the elevator we saw a lot of people coming home with the food or vegetables from the market, going home to cook. They won’t come back after the system glitch,” she said.  Ip said the 27.54 percent turnout for the polls was "very good," noting that the rate earlier in the day, before the computer glitch struck, was similar to that of the last Legislative Council elections.