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Half of total voters still undecided, survey finds
A survey released Thursday found that more than 50 percent of voters have not yet decided which party they will vote for in the upcoming election
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A survey released Thursday found that more than 50 percent of voters have not yet decided which party they will vote for in the upcoming election.
The high number of undecided voters – while presenting parties with the opportunity to garner last-minute support – will also increase the likelihood of money politics, observers have warned.
The survey, conducted by the Reform Institute, revealed that more than half of the 2,520 respondents questioned from Feb. 28 to Mar. 13 across 33 provinces said they would wait until the election day to make their choice.
“We found that 50.48 percent of respondents remain undecided about their choice,” said Reform Institute researcher Kholid Novianto.
Around 41.38 percent of respondents said they would make their decision on voting day, while 31.72 percent did not stipulate when they would make their decision, the survey found.
When asked about their reasons for being indecisive, almost 4 percent of respondents said they would wait and see which parties offered them money.
Kholid said that even voters who had made up their mind were open to the prospect of changing at the last minute. These swing voters accounted for 52.07 percent of respondents.
Of those surveyed, almost 90 percent said they were willing to cast their votes while 14.53 percent said they would abstain.
The high number of undecided voters will increase the chances of political parties bribing voters in the final days of the elections, the institute warned.
“This situation [with many undecided voters] will encourage parties to commit ‘dawn attacks’,” Kholid said, referring to when parties leave an envelope of money on voters doorstep in a bid to shore up last minute support.
On party preference, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) topped the list with 25.05 percent and 15.01 percent respectively while Golkar, the largest party based on the 2004 elections, took third place with 14.49 percent.
This is the fourth survey conducted by the Reform Institute. The results from the four surveys have remained constant in term of favorite parties, with the Democratic Party, PDI-P and Golkar being the top three, said the institute’s director Zaim Saidi.
