Advertisement
Strategic voting fails pan-democrat candidates in Hong Kong Legislative Council elections
Pro-establishment candidates did proportionately better by putting forward fewer lists, while there were too many pro-democracy and localist hopefuls
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Strategic voting was in great play in the Legislative Council elections last Sunday, but pro-democracy candidates still had a lower success rate in winning seats due to severe infighting and a lack of accurate information flow within the camp.
Under the system of proportional representation adopted by Hong Kong, votes do not equal seats and parties try hard to maximise their votes strategically – sometimes to the extent of voting for candidates other than their first choice because their first choice already has enough votes. Alternatively, they may give their votes to someone else to thwart a popular candidate they dislike.
Last Sunday, the traditional pan-democrats and localists secured 54.8 per cent of total votes in the elections and won 19 directly elected seats, while the pro-establishment camp bagged 40.3 per cent of votes and took 16 seats.
Advertisement
Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting advocated what he called the “Thunder Go” plan ahead of the citywide polls, calling on the public to vote strategically.
His team launched a smartphone program to collect voters’ preferences for the candidates.
Advertisement
It also came up with a list of “recommended candidates” hours before the polls closed on Sunday, advising voters to back those who they said were likely to be in the fight for the last seat.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x