Blank vote option for Hong Kong chief executive poll draws divided views

The public appears split right down the middle over a novel idea to allow them to reject all the names on the ballot paper as a way to declare the 2017 chief executive election void.

Out of 907 respondents in a survey commissioned by the , 29.4 per cent disagreed with the so-called "blank vote" proposal put forward by Professor Albert Chen Hung-yee, while another 29.6 per cent agreed with the idea.

When their preferences were broken down by political affiliation, pan-democrat voters were the least enthusiastic about the idea, with 40 per cent of them rejecting it.

While more than a third of pro-establishment respondents liked the plan, they were outnumbered by those in their camp who opposed it, at 38 per cent.

Under Chen's proposal, the ballot paper would include a choice alien to Hong Kong's current electoral practice: a none-of-the-above option.

Under a framework set by the National People's Congress Standing Committee, voters will get to choose between two or three chief executive candidates who have received majority backing from a 1,200-member nominating committee.