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%.

• NDI/CRRC Poll, Political Ratings, November, 2016 – pdf

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.