Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/388498
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2014 News 9 among PN voters 75% of whom now intend to vote yes. Only 8% of PN vot- ers now intend voting no, a substan- tial decrease from 33% in July 2013. On the other hand in the PN camp non-voters have doubled from 6% in June to 13% now. 60% support referendum The survey suggests that the over- whelming majority of voters agree with a referendum in which the elec- torate decides whether to abolish Spring hunting or not. While 60% agreed with the referen- dum being held only 30% disagreed. Support for a spring hunting referen- dum is highest among respondents with a uni- versity (69%) or post secondary level of education (73%) and lowest among those with a primary (57%) and sec- ondary level (55%) of education. Respondents were also asked wheth- er they would vote in a spring hunting referendum. The vast majority (70%) replied that they will surely or prob- ably vote. Of these 52% replied that they will surely vote. This indicates that as things stand the referendum will surpass the 50% hurdle. This is important because the re- sults of any referendum which does not surpass a 50% turnout is not le- gally binding. Only 16% replied that they will surely not vote in the forthcoming referendum while 11% replied that they will probably not be voting. Respondents who agree with the abolition of spring hunting are surer about turning up on voting day. But a substantial 15% of those against Spring hunting replied that they will "probably not" vote while 8% will surely not vote. On the other hand 16% of those in favour of spring hunting will surely not vote. This in- dicates that a substantial percentage of potential no supporters will not be voting. Methodology The survey was carried out using telephone questionnaires. 750 phone calls were made, 526 accepted to par- ticipate. The survey was stopped when the 750-call quota was reached. Statistically, at the 95% confidence level the maximum sampling error for this type of study is estimated to be ±4.4. Respondents were selected through a one-step probability sam- pling procedure from the GO Internet directory and latest printed directo- ries. A random seed was used to iden- tify the first respondent; subsequent respondents were selected at regular intervals from the directories. The results were weighed according to sex and age according to the data for the Maltese population as pub- lished in the latest census issued by the National Office of Statistics. The survey was conducted between 1-10 September. vote against Spring hunting Do you agree that a referendum on spring hunting should be held? (%) Yes 59.5 No 29.8 Don't know 10.7 Support for referendum according to education (%) University-educated 68.5 Post-Secondary educated 73.4 Secondary 55.3 Primary 56.7 Will you vote in the referendum? (%) All Agree with abolition Disagree with abolition Surely 51.5 56.3 51.8 Probably yes 18.4 20.8 17.8 Probably not 11 15.2 9.9 Surely not 15.6 7.6 16.2 Don't Know 3.5 0 4.3 How would you vote in the referendum? (%) Sep June July 2013 For banning spring hunting 50.2 44.1 59.1 To keep spring hunting 26.9 32.3 28.1 Will not vote 15 6.1 0 Don't know 7.9 17.6 12.1 How would you vote in the referendum? According to age (%) 18-34 35-54 55+ Yes 61.7 55.9 43.3 No 21.3 23.1 29.7 Won't Vote 12.8 19.4 17.9 Don't Know 4.2 5.8 9.1 According to gender (%) Males Females Yes 45.1 52.8 No 34.3 23.7 Won't Vote 12.4 17.2 Don't Know 8.2 6.3 % of each educational group who would vote 'Yes' (%) University 70.3 Post Secondary 65.8 Secondary 45.5 Primary 34 According to electoral district (%) 1-3 4-6 7-8 9-11 12 13 Yes 46.9 48.4 41.7 64 58.6 27.7 No 23.4 34.9 31 14.9 24.1 30.9 Won't vote 20.3 14.7 19 10.5 13.8 9.3 Don't know 9.4 2 8.3 10.6 3.5 32.1 According to 2013 voting allegiance (%) PN PL No Reply Switchers Yes 75.3 34.5 49 33.3 No 7.5 42.8 22.5 33.3 Won't vote 12.9 16.6 14 16.7 Don't know 4.3 6.1 14.5 16.7 Referendum preference according to historic voting allegiance (%) PL voters July 2013 June 2014 Sep 2014 Yes 48.8 30.5 34.5 No 36.2 47.7 42.8 Won't vote 0 8.8 16.6 Don't know 15 13 6.1 PN voters July 2013 June 2014 Sep 2014 Yes 62.7 63.1 75.3 No 32.7 19.3 7.5 Won't vote 0 5.7 12.9 Don't know 4.6 11.9 4.3 mt survey Lino Farrugia