NA-75 Daska by-polls: ‘Personal integrity, party line dominate voters choice’

KARACHI: The majority of people of NA-75 Daska constituency would vote on the basis of candidate’s integrity and the party to which he belongs to during the by-polls in the constituency, according to an opinion poll conducted by three public survey companies.

The IPSOS, Gallup Pakistan and Plus Consultants based their survey on a 3,000 people sample size. The IPSOS and Gallup found majority of people of NA-75 Daska constituency to vote on the basis of candidate’s integrity and the party to which he belongs. However, the Plus Consultants found respondents primarily preferring to back the political party’s pick as the main criterion for casting their ballot. The poll was conducted from March 2 to March 9, 2021.

According to IPSOS poll, 45pc respondents thought the candidate’s popularity and the party that is backing him to decide which way they would cast their vote. As many as 25pc respondents felt primarily, their vote would be determined by their favourite party, while 23pc respondents weighed candidate’s popularity and party line as equal factors dominating their decision to cast the vote.

The Gallup poll found both the party and the candidate to dominate the respondent’s choice for casting the vote. As many as 20pc said they would prefer to cast vote for their favourite party while the candidate does not matter, while 19pc preferred the candidate’s integrity and popularity in the constituency as the primary factor.

However, the Plus Consultants found that 52pc respondents of NA-75 to primarily prefer the party’s choice of the candidate, while 24pc respondents felt both the candidate's individual popularity and their favourite party, which has awarded the ticket to dominate their thoughts at the time of casting their ballot. As many as 13pc respondents felt the candidate’s popularity alone to be the major factor.

When the respondents of Daska NA-75 constituency were asked about their personal preference, Gallup opinion poll found 46pc people to vote for someone on the basis of his party ticket as well as his popularity. As many as 30pc said they would base their decision on the basis of their favourite party while the candidate was not important, while 20pc preferred the candidate’s integrity and his popularity as the primary factor to determine their vote.

The IPSOS opinion poll found 41pc giving equal weightage to the party’s choice as well as the candidate’s popularity among the constituents of Daska as factors dominating their decision at the polling station. It found 32pc respondents to decide on the basis of candidate’s popularity and integrity to be the deciding factor. Besides, 27pc of those polled preferred to follow their party to decide for casting their vote.

The Plus Consultants found majority of people ie 55pc respondents to their questionnaire of following the party line to decide their vote in the Daska by-poll. As many as 30pc were found to consider both their favourite party and the candidate’s popularity to decide for whom they would cast the ballot, and 15pc based their decision to vote on the basis of the candidate’s popularity among the NA-75 constituents.