More than 33 per cent of young voters will support a pro-independence candidate in Sunday’s Legislative Council election
Hong Kong National Party convenor Chan Ho-tin is one of the disqualified pro-independence candidates.More than a third of young voters would vote for a pro-independence candidate in Sunday’s Legislative Council election, as a recent Chinese University of Hong Kong survey found.
The survey, conducted by CUHK’s Varsity in August, received 448 responses, out of which 302 were registered voters aged 18 to 30.
While 41 per cent said they supported the localist camp, 27 per cent said they supported the pan-democrats, and 22 per cent did not have an opinion. Only one per cent said they supported the pro-establishment camp.
When asked how likely they are to vote for a candidate who supports Hong Kong independence, 13 per cent replied “definitely, yes” and more than 25 per cent replied they are “likely” to vote for someone supporting Hong Kong independence. However, 41 per cent of respondents claimed to be neutral, and more than 20 per cent said they were “unlikely” to or would “definitely not” vote in favour of independence.
Among the factors that motivate the age group to vote, the respondents rated the disqualification of pro-independence candidates from standing in the election as being most influential; followed by the Occupy Movement of 2014 and the disappearances of the Causeway Bay booksellers.
Respondents said that a candidate's political stance, policy platform and past performance are the top three criteria that are the most important, and are what voters will take into consideration when making this important decision.