People line up at a polling center to vote in an unofficial referendum on democratic reform in Hong Kong, June 22, 2014.
Da Hai Han
June 23, 2014 7:13 PM
An unofficial pro-democracy referendum in Hong Kong has been extended through next Sunday, with nearly 720,000 people voting in the past three days to change how city leadership is elected.
The Occupy Central movement, which favors open elections rather than the current Beijing-driven narrow list of candidates, organized the vote to pressure government action.
Benny Tai Yiu-ting, an Occupy Central organizer, said a 21 percent voter turnout through the first weekend of the referendum demands government attention.
“They have clearly indicated their view that they deeply want true democracy for Hong Kong. I would say, any responsible government cannot ignore or undervalue their views, and must seriously consider their views when the government starts to work on its own proposal on the chief executive election method,” he said.