Survey finds more than a third of voters aged 18-30 say they would vote for a pro-independence candidate in Sunday’s Legislative Council Election
A Varsity survey of more than 300 young voters has found that 41 per cent of respondents identified with the localist camp and 38 per cent of respondents said they were likely to or would definitely vote for a candidate who advocates Hong Kong independence.
We conducted the survey in August and got responses from 324 people aged between 18 and 30 year-old and were eligible to register to vote in Sunday’s Legislative Council Election. Of these, 93 per cent or 302 were registered voters.
Among the factors that motivate them to vote, these respondents rated the disqualification of pro-independence candidates from standing in the election as the highest motivating factor, followed by the Occupy Movement of 2014 and the disappearances of the Causeway Bay booksellers.
The top three criteria respondents would consider when casting their votes were: candidates’ political stance, policy platform and past performance in that order. 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 1 per cent said they supported the pro-establishment camp.
When asked how likely they were to vote for a candidate who supports Hong Kong independence, 13 per cent replied “definitely yes” and more than 25 per cent replied it was “likely”. However, 41 per cent of respondents were neutral and more than 20 per cent said they were “unlikely” to or would “definitely not” do so.
Here are more detailed figures:
Methodology:
Varsity conducted the survey from 18th to 31st of August. The online questionnaires were distributed via social media. Among a total of 448 responses received, those aged 18 to 30 who were eligible to register to vote in the upcoming election accounted for 324 responses. Our analysis and the figures we give are based on the 93 per cent, or 302 respondents, who were registered voters.
Survey team: Vivienne Tsang, Fiona Chan. Verena Tse
