The latest survey conducted by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups found that around 52 per cent of the respondents, aged 18 to 34, had registered as voters of the 1998 Legislative Council Elections. Among them, 28 per cent said that they would definitely vote on Election Day. Around 20 per cent, however, said had no such an intention. Among those who had no intention to vote on Election Day, around 30 per cent attributed their decision to ignorance about the Elections, while another 28 per cent claimed they had no time to vote on the day.

When asked which political party was relatively concerned about youth affairs, 72 per cent of the respondents had no idea. About 15 per cent even said that none of the political parties had any concern.

The survey also found that only around 7 per cent of the respondents could correctly name the three kinds of election systems adopted for the forthcoming elections, whereas around 79 per cent could not identify them. Moreover, around two-thirds of the respondents did not know to which geographical constituency they belonged.

This telephone survey was conducted from 14 to 17 April 1998. Of the total 528 young respondents, around 28 per cent thought that the 1998 Election was a step towards selecting a credible Legislative Council, while another 20 per cent regarded it as the first election after the Handover. However, still around 12 per cent thought that there was nothing meaningful in the election.

According to the findings, social welfare, economic development and housing were the three top issues to which young people expected the candidates to give priority. The findings also showed that the platforms and political views of a candidate were the most popular criteria among young people in choosing candidates, accounting for 38.2 per cent of the respondents' replies.

When asked which candidate they would vote for, only a few of the respondents had made their decisions and were willing to tell which one they would vote for in geographical elections. The findings suggested that many young people did not want to disclose their chosen candidates.

The survey found that The Democratic Party was still the most popular party among young people. The Democratic Party scored 56.6 on a scale of 0-100 points. The Frontier and the Liberal Party got 48.9 points respectively. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong picked up 47 points, just 0.1 ahead of the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood

Although around 48 per cent of the respondents believed Hong Kong's political environment would be better after the elections, still more than 30 per cent showed no confidence in the cleanliness and fairness of the Elections.

The senior research officer of the Federation, Mr. Jacky Pang, concluded that young people generally did not have much knowledge about the 1998 Elections. He called for the young people to vote on Election Day to fulfill civic duty.