To the residents of Daling, a village in Hebei province, elections have brought nothing but misery. For opposing the officially approved candidates in the village council polls held seven years ago, dozens have endured beatings and threats by police and thugs. Some have toured the offices of the government and the Communist Party as distant as Beijing, 180km (112 miles) away, to seek the democratic rights they should enjoy by law. Despite an unusual intervention by the Politburo, they remain angry.
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