Blank votes could harm pan-democrats' 'super seat' hopes

"Super seat" contender Frederick Fung Kin-kee said he was worried that People Power's call to cast blank votes could hinder pan-democrats' goal of winning three of the five seats.

Fung, of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, expects a 16 per cent share of the vote will be sufficient to win one of the seats - in the functional constituency for district councils. That means the camp would 48 per cent of the votes to win three seats.

"If there are many blank votes, the pan-democrats will have a slim chance of winning the votes [to secure three seats]," he said.

Fung said it was possible to compensate for the loss of ballots from blank votes if there was a turnout of more than 50 per cent of the 3.2 million voters eligible.

Electors without a vote in another functional constituency can vote for the "super seats", so called because the winners will have a bigger mandate than fellow lawmakers.

People Power appealed to supporters not to vote in the "super seat" ballots or to cast blank votes in the September 9 election. The seats were created by 2010 political reforms, which it opposed.