Hong Kong district council election data reveals turnout now highest among young people, driven to the ballot box by anti-government protests

Under-35s leapfrog all other age categories to record the highest percentage turnout at 2019 district council elections

Young people motivated by the anti-government protests carried pan-democrats to landslide victory last November, analyst says

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Pro-democracy supporters celebrate as the results come in for last November’s district council elections. Photo: AP

Published: 10:00am, 4 Apr 2020Updated: 1:49pm, 4 Apr 2020

The turnout of young people in Hong Kong’s district council elections doubled last year to 73.1 per cent, as new voting analysis reveals how pan-democrats secured their landslide victory.

The emergence of 18 to 35-year-olds as the most active age group at the ballot box last November is in stark contrast to previous polls including 2015, when they were the least represented, in a surge attributed to the anti-government protests that broke out in the city last summer with youth as their driving force.

Amid record overall turnout of 71.2 per cent in 2019, the pro-democracy camp inflicted a heavy defeat on their pro-establishment rivals, riding on the anti-establishment sentiment fomenting from the protests since last June.

Voters queue around the block to vote on November 24 for the district council elections as turnout hit its highest level. Photo: Bloomberg

The camp now controls 17 out of 18 district councils, having won 392 seats, leaving its opponents with just 60, in a dramatic shift of local power.

According to a Post study of the latest election data, average turnout was fairly evenly distributed across all age groups.