In a stunning sign of support for the protests that have roiled Hong Kong this year, more than half of the 452 seats in Sunday’s local district council elections flipped from pro-Beijing to pro-democracy candidates.

Elected representatives to local district councils

Note: Candidates were classified as pro-democracy or pro-Beijing based on their party affiliations, as well as by their public activities and statements. The chart includes 27 ex-officio members who are rural committee chairmen in the New Territories.

The districts that flipped from pro-Beijing to pro-democracy were spread throughout the city, from dense urban centers to the more rural areas in the New Territories.

Voter turnout was the highest since Hong Kong began holding district council elections in 1999.

This was the first time that every seat in a district council election had candidates from at least two opposing parties. During the last election cycle, in 2015, 68 candidates ran unopposed.

This year also set a record, with 4 million registered voters, 390,000 of whom were newly registered.

Many district council candidates who had actively participated in recent protests won, suggesting that popular support for the pro-democracy movement has solidified. Some had been targeted in attacks. Others had been caught up in violent clashes during protests, with some even arrested and charged.

Lam Cheuk Ting
North District

Lam Cheuk Ting via Facebook

Roy Kwong
Yuen Long

Edgar Su/Reuters

Richard Chan
Tai Po

Vincent Yu/Associated Press

Jimmy Sham
Sha Tin

Apple Daily/Associated Press

Andrew Chiu
Eastern District

Elson Li/HK01, via Associated Press

Jocelyn Chau
Eastern District

CitizenNews via Youtube

While most of these elected officials’ responsibilities are limited to their districts, the victory by the pro-democracy candidates could allow them to play a bigger role in shaping the government in the future. These district council members are eligible to be elected to six seats in the Legislative Council, and will control 117 votes in the 1,200-member committee that chooses Hong Kong’s chief executive.