Hong Kong Sunday saw a record turnout that overwhelmed many polling stations in a legislative council election billed as "a referendum on democracy". Some polling stations were unable to cope as more than 1.56 million voters turned up to cast their ballots, a higher total than in 1998, a year after Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule. The turnout was so large that there were delays as more than 1,000 extra ballot boxes were dispatched to cope with queues of voters waiting to cast their ballots in the former British colony. At some polling stations, full ballot boxes had to be broken open early and papers inside rearranged to fit more in after the high early turnout apparently took election officials by surprise. By 9:30 p.m., an hour before polls closed, 1.56 million voters - almost 49 per cent of Hong Kong's 3.2 million registered voters - had cast their ballots. Fifty-three per cent voted in 1998. --More 2305 Local Time 2005 GMT
