Democrats demand HK recount
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 Legislative elections seen as a referendum on Chinese rule.
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HONG KONG, China -- Hong Kong's main pro-democracy party has demanded a partial recount of the vote in legislative elections held on Sunday, CNN has learned.
Democratic Party leader Yeung Sum confirmed Monday that he was formally calling for a partial recount.
Preliminary results Monday show voters opted for stability, delivering slim gains to pro-democracy candidates and giving pro-Beijing politicians a bigger than expected victory.
Pro-democracy candidates won 18 directly elected seats in the 60-seat Legislative Council, up from 17 in the last election.
Pro-Beijing candidates took the other 12, up from just seven in 2000.
Results for the other 30 seats, elected by small limited interest groups, have yet to be released.
Earlier, veteran democrat Martin Lee said the apparent inability of Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp to make substantial gains in the elections was disappointing and reflected the inadequacy of the system.
Lee, former chairman of the Democratic Party, spoke on Sunday after exit polls indicated pro-democracy parties had made modest gains.
A record 3.2 million voters were registered to take part in the vote, seen as a referendum on Chinese rule and a test of strength for the democracy movement.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa is strongly allied to the Beijing leadership.
Democrat candidates appeared to have taken 18 of the 30 directly elected seats in the 60-seat legislative council -- one more than they had in the last election -- according to polls conducted by the University of Hong Kong for TV stations.
"If the exit polls reflect the true picture, then the democracy camp hasn't done well at all. I am disappointed. It shows how unacceptable the electoral system is," Lee told Reuters.
Lee had predicted earlier that although he could lose his seat under the complex voting system, he saw his movement taking a respectable 26 seats.
The exit polls did not cover results for 30 other seats picked by corporate and professional groups. Official results will not be released until later on Monday.
The democracy movement has angered China by demanding universal suffrage in the territory Beijing took back from Britain in 1997.
The legislative chamber has been dominated by pro-China members since then.
Analysts say any change would dilute Beijing's control over the city, possibly paralysing legislation.
An independent opinion poll late on Saturday gave about 41 percent support to the democrats, 24 percent to the pro-Beijing camp and as many as 35 percent still undecided, Reuters reported.
To prevent intimidation, curtains were removed from polling booths after reports voters had come under pressure to use mobile phone cameras to photograph their ballot to prove how they voted.
"I voted for Emily and the rest of the democrats on that list and I hope they will fight for what I want, which is universal suffrage," said postgraduate student Kim Yip-lo, 30, referring to veteran democracy activist Emily Lau.
"The political climate is really messy and so I am just doing my part," said Cherry Lam, in her mid-20s, who voted for the DAB.
The election has been tarnished by charges of Chinese dirty tricks and scandals dogging politicians, the most damaging involving a Democratic Party member arrested in south China and detained for six months for hiring a prostitute.
