HONG KONG — A new wave of anti-China activists appeared headed for victory in Hong Kong's most crucial elections since the handover from Britain in 1997, setting the stage for a fresh round of political confrontations over Beijing's control of the city.

While official results were yet to be released, preliminary tallies on Monday indicated that youthful candidates from groups that emerged in the wake of 2014 pro-democracy street protests were on track to win seats.

Counting in some areas was delayed because of the record turnout. About 2.2 million people, or 58 percent of registered voters, cast ballots for lawmakers in the Legislative Council, the highest since the handover.

Nathan Law, who helped lead the 2014 protests, looked to be one of the biggest winners.

Law's party, Demosisto, which he formed with teen protest leader Joshua Wong, advocates a referendum on “self-determination” of Hong Kong's future.

He was expected to win a seat in the Hong Kong Island constituency after receiving the second-highest number of votes, with 90 percent of ballots counted.

Many of the newcomers back the previously unthinkable idea of independence for Hong Kong, which has added to divisions with the broader pro-democracy movement and overshadowed the election.

Last month, officials disqualified six pro-independence candidates in an attempt to tamp down the debate, though other candidates with similar views made the cut.

Hong Kong residents feel they have few other negotiating tactics left in their battle for genuine democracy as Beijing takes an increasingly hard-line stance.

“It's bleak, but I think if China doesn't leave us to do what we want, I think the only way is to fight for independence,” Aron Yuen, a 34-year-old college lecturer, said as he stood in line with about 100 other people to cast their ballots. “You can't negotiate with somebody who doesn't keep their promise.”

Yuen planned to vote for Law, 23.

Voters were choosing from among 84 lists of candidates to fill 35 seats in a complex system of geographic constituencies that makes results hard to predict.

At stake is the power to keep the city's widely unpopular Beijing-backed leader, Leung Chun-ying, and his government in check. “Pan-democrat” lawmakers currently control 27 of 70 seats, compared with 43 held by lawmakers friendly to Beijing.

The democrats are fighting to keep control of at least a third of the seats, which gives them veto power to block government attempts to enact unpopular legislation, including a renewed attempt to enact Beijing's controversial election revamp that triggered the 2014 street protests.

The risk is that the pro-democracy vote will be split, allowing pro-Beijing candidates to take more seats and removing a major hurdle for the government's proposals, which could lead to a new round of political confrontations.

Turnout was visibly high, with long lines of people still waiting to cast ballots at some polling stations by the time voting was supposed to end.

Some 52.6 percent of nearly 3.8 million registered voters had turned out an hour before polls closed, matching the total turnout for the previous election four years ago.

Earlier Sunday, a small group of protesters demanded Leung step down outside a polling station where he cast his vote.

“Our election is a democratic election,” Leung told reporters.

Seven candidates with low support, most of them pro-democracy, suspended their campaigns at the last minute in a bid to consolidate votes for others.

Asked his thoughts on how that would affect results, Leung said: “The democracy in the election is reflected by the free choice of voters; they do not need to be told who to vote (for).”