DMITRY MEDVEDEV MAY POLL MORE VOTES THAN VLADIMIR PUTIN DID IN HIS TIME
Results of opinion polls indicate…
Public Opinion Foundation sociologists gauge the turnout at the presidential election on March 2 at 69% and claim that Dmitry Medvedev will poll 67.8%. Along with the traditional questions of the “Will you vote?” and “Who will you vote for?” variety, sociologists asked some additional ones – on firmness of intentions, attitude towards candidates, who respondents might have voted for if (…), and who they would never vote for.
If the sociologists know their business, Medvedev will poll less than what Vladimir Putin did in 2004 (71.31% with the turnout at 64.39%). “On the other hand, this comparison is not exactly correct, because CPRF and LDPR leaders did not run for president in 2004, and their voters were not mobilized therefore,” Grigori Kertman of the Analytical Department of the Public Opinion Foundation said.
The All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) in its turn believes that Medvedev will beat Putin’s results in 2004 with 72.9% (with the turnout at 69.7%). (The Center conducted the survey on February 16-17. Its sociologists approached 1,600 respondents in 46 Russian regions. Statistical error is estimated at 3.4%.) “Putin’s performance in 2004 and Medvedev’s expected one in 2008 differ by 1-2% only, which is within the statistical error margins,” Center General Director Valery Fyodorov said.
The Open Sociology Foundation discovered what the population expects from Medvedev in return for this support. Its specialists approached 1,200 voters in the Nizhny Novgorod region. As it turned out, voters expect that Medvedev will freeze prices and tariffs, “do something about the food spiralling prices”, “bring down communal services tariffs”, “make apartments affordable to young families”, fight corruption and officialdom, restore industry and agriculture.
Alexander Prudnik of the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences points out that very many voters throughout Russia wish Medvedev continued Putin’s policy.
