Hong Kong's pro-democracy protest leaders on Sunday were forced to cancel a planned voting on their next step after the month-long rallies, just hours after the voting was set to begin.

Leaders explained that they were not able to properly consult with all the members of the protesters prior to the referendum. They scheduled the voting from Sunday to Monday to assess the demonstrators' support for the government's proposals, according to The Australian Business Review.

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The Hong Kong Federation of Students, Occupy Central With Peace and Love, and Scholarism called for voting last Friday, said the report.

The Hong Kong government offered to give Beijing a report detailing the unhappiness of the demonstrators regarding appointed candidates for the top position in the Special Administrative Region (SAR). The pro-democracy protesters have been demanding the government for open nominations for the 2017 promised election.

The referendum would ask the supporters of the pro-democracy rallies if they find the government's counterproposals agreeable. The Hong Kong government made an unclear offer for talks, leaders said.

By voting, the protest leaders said they would be able to gauge the support from protesters to ensure the reform of the legislature of the SAR.

In a statement, the leaders admitted that they were not able to talk with the people prior to the referendum. They also apologized and cited multiple opinions, effectiveness and motions of the voting process as the reasons they scrapped the planned vote, the report stated.

The referendum was scheduled to commence in the main protest area, causing other demonstrators in other areas to be upset. The protests, which started September 28, are now entering their second month with no signs of compromise from the government.

Demonstrators said they were not able to see any resolution in the past week despite thousands of people still occupying the streets, the report relayed.

On Sunday, a demonstrator named Jo Tai said a plan should be finalized. Although the population of the demonstrators have dwindled from thousands to just hundreds, they could not stay on the streets for an indefinite period of time, he said.

TagsHong Kong Protest, HK pro-democracy protest, HK-China, voting, cancellation, Hong Kong