Nearly 70 per cent of Okinawa residents plan to vote against the central government’s controversial plan to move a US airbase in the southern island prefecture in the local referendum on February 24, a Kyodo News poll showed on Sunday. While the result of the referendum will not be legally binding, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki hopes the vote will demonstrate local opposition to the transfer of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the prefecture, which hosts most of the US military facilities in the country. According to the opinion poll conducted on Saturday and Sunday on 1,047 eligible voters in the prefecture, 67.7 per cent said they will cast a “no” vote on the base plan and only 15.8 per cent said they will vote for the move. About 1.16 million Okinawa residents with Japanese citizenship aged 18 or over will be eligible to vote. Queen guitarist Brian May takes on US military over Okinawa base Voters will have three options on the ballot asking what they think about building a replacement facility in a coastal area of Henoko – “yes,” “no” or “neither”. Some 13.1 per cent said they will vote “neither”. Of all the respondents, 86.3 per cent said the central government should respect the referendum outcome. Among people opposing the base relocation, nearly 40 per cent said they do not want a new US military base in the prefecture. As for people supporting the transfer, about 55 per cent said safety issues surrounding the Futenma base need to be addressed. Under the referendum ordinance, the governor must “respect” the outcome of the plebiscite and notify the prime minister and US president if it is approved by at least a quarter of eligible voters, or around 290,000. Heavy US military presence in Okinawa, a fierce battleground in the second world war, has long been a source of conflict between the prefecture and Tokyo. Tamaki was elected in September on a promise to stop the US base relocation, along with a pledge to seek a review of the US-Japan Status of Forces Agreement giving certain legal privileges to US military personnel, despite the central government taking precedence over the local government on matters related to the two countries’ alliance. The relocation plan originated from an agreement reached between the Japanese and US governments in 1996 after public anger was fuelled by the 1995 rape of an Okinawa girl by three American servicemen. Many residents of Okinawa, which reverted to Japan in 1972 after decades of US military administration following the war, are frustrated with noise, accidents and crimes linked to US military presence and want the Futenma base moved outside the prefecture. China may use Japan’s aircraft carrier plan to push through more military spending, observers say The central government has maintained that the current relocation plan is “the only solution” for removing the dangers posed by the Futenma base, which is situated close to schools and homes in Ginowan, without undermining the deterrence provided by the Japan-US security alliance. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration is pressing ahead with the transfer of the base to the Henoko coast near US Marine base Camp Schwab despite a series of legal and administrative battles with the local government, commencing full-fledged land reclamation in December to build airbase runways.