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NDI/CRRC public opinion survey, November, 2016
A recent poll, carried out less than a month after the October 8 Parliamentary Elections, shows the Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GDDG) enjoying strongest public support with 40% of respondents identifying GDDG it as “the party closest” to them, compared to the United National Movement’s (UNM) 10%.
The poll, released on Wednesday, was fielded by CRRC for the U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI) between November 4 and December 4. The survey was conducted through nationwide face-to-face interviews (excluding occupied territories) with 3,141 respondents and has a margin of error plus, minus 1.8%.
According to the survey, 14% of respondents, either refused to answer or said they did not know which party was closest to them. 22% of respondents indicated “no party” to the question. The Alliance of Patriots and the Free Democrats received 3% each, while 7% of respondents named other parties.
In NDI/CRRC’s June opinion poll, the ruling party was named by 19% as the party closest to them, followed by UNM – 15%; the State for the People – 5%; Alliance of Patriots – 5%; Free Democrats – 4%, and Labor Party – 4%. 10% of respondents did not know which party was closest to them and 27% indicated “no party” to the question.
GDDG garnered 48.68% of votes in parliamentary elections, followed by UNM and the Alliance of Patriots with 27.11% and 5.01% of votes, respectively.
According to the survey, 62% of 3,141 surveyed respondents said they decided which party to vote in the parliamentary elections before the campaign began, 27% – during the election campaign and 11% – on the Election Day.
Asked which of the policies matter the most when voting in parliamentary elections, 39% of respondents named party’s economic policy, followed by party’s stance on healthcare policy (16%); national security issues (10%); party’s stance on foreign policy and the rule of law – 9% and 8%, respectively.
According to the survey, 74% of respondents said that they voted in parliamentary elections (51.63% official turnout). The respondents reported a lower for the runoff elections, here, only 46% said that they participated, 31% said that they did not participate and 24% indicated that there was no runoff in their electoral district.
Asked if they had enough information about where to vote, 92% said “yes” and 7% said “no”. On a similar question involving the political parties, 85% said that they had enough information, while 13% said otherwise.
Television remained the main source of information about parties and candidates for 73% of respondents, followed by internet – 6%.
On the question of how elections were managed, 47% indicated that elections were well-conducted, 36% indicated “average” and 6% said it was badly conducted. The response was lower for runoff elections; here, 39% said that elections were well-conducted.
Asked about the pre-election violence during October 2012 and October 2016 Parliamentary Elections, 46% of respondents said that there was no violence in neither of the periods, 18% said that there was more violence in 2012, 12% said that there was more violence in 2016 and 11% said that the level of violence was the same.
Asked who their majoritarian MP was, majority of respondents (65%) responded correctly, 8% gave an incorrect answer and 25% did not know at all. 96% said that they voted for a party and candidate as well, 85% voted for the same electoral subject/party on both ballots and 12% voted for a certain party on the party list ballot and representative of another party on the majoritarian ballot.
Speaking on their expectations from MPs, 65% responded that the MPs will do what the party tells them, 56% expect that they will be active, 48% think that they will only serve their interests and 48% believe that MPs will serve the voters’ interests.
Overall, 42% of respondents think that new parliament will work better than the previous parliament, 30% thinks it will be the same and 8% expects a worse performance. 19% did not have an answer on the question.
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