Voters in a Chinese village that overthrew its Communist Party bosses in landmark elections two years ago re-elected several former protest leaders on Tuesday.

But one key protest figure was absent from the ballot, underscoring signs that higher authorities were reasserting power in the village once seen as a trailblazer for democratic reform in the country.

Wukan, in south China's Guangdong province, grabbed headlines worldwide in 2011 when locals staged huge protests and drove out Communist Party officials they accused of illegal land grabs and the death of a detained local villager.

The protest leaders were swept to office in unprecedented free elections the following year.

Former protest leader Lin Zuluan was re-elected as village head in polls held on Monday, and two other prominent protesters, Hong Ruichao and Sun Wenliang, were returned to the committee in Tuesday's vote, villagers said.

Overall, four of the former village committee's seven members were re-elected, Lin said.

But Yang Semao, a firebrand former protester, told AFP he pulled out of Tuesday's run-off ballot for the committee because of irreconcilable differences over Lin's emphasis on compromise with local Communist party authorities.

"He's a quiet, compromising type of person, but I like to speak out," Yang said.

Yang described this week's elections as "somewhat, but not totally democratic", amid fears that higher authorities are reasserting their power.

"Involvement from the city government has been significant, that's the main reason," he added.

Yang and Hong were accused of corruption earlier this month by authorities in Lufeng, the city that administers the village.

Despite the graft allegations, Yang remains a popular figure seen as less closely-connected to city officials than Lin, and received thousands of votes in the Monday election for village head.

"I would vote for Yang Semao, but he's dropped out, it's a shame," said a 24-year-old also surnamed Yang, as he scrutinised the list of candidates on Tuesday.

"The village committee isn't powerful -- they never really achieved anything," he added, expressing a common sentiment in the village.

Many residents of Wukan, a fishing village where locals said around 430 hectares (1,060 acres) of land had been illegally seized and sold, have become disappointed with the committee leaders elected in 2012, after they failed to reverse many of the losses.

State-backed land-grabs are a key driver of unrest in rural China, fuelling the majority of the tens of thousands of protests taking place in the countryside each year, according to estimates.

As on Monday, a heavy presence of workers sent by the government of Lufeng were standing close to voters on Tuesday at a polling station in a local school.

Residents arrived in a steady stream but candidates did not make public speeches, in contrast to the carnival atmosphere of the village's post-rebellion election.