"But the non-pro-establishment candidates are not that appealing to voters as they are lesser-known, and surveys also showed that the majority of pro-democracy supporters do not support members from the camp to stand in the December elections," Choy said. Pro-democracy supporters were in fact among the first 4.7 million voters to cast their ballots after Beijing overhauled Hong Kong's electoral system in March this year. Apart from the record-breaking voting rate in the 2019 District Council elections, which was at over 71 percent, the voter turnout usually stands at 30 to 40 percent, according to Cheung. "Even with immense promotion, the voting rate could only reach some 30 percent, and if the final voter turnout is 35 percent, it is just a 10 percent drop from the 45 percent voting rate in 2008," he added. Instead of a proportional representation voting system that was used in elections since Hong Kong's handover in 1997, a single non-transferable voting system will be used in future elections.

Source: The Standard November 12, 2021 07:14 UTC