Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/455578
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 2015 15 MaltaToday Survey avour of spring hunting of Labour voters intend to vote no. Support for a spring hunting ban among Labour voters had already dipped by 18 points in a survey held in June 2014. The survey was held af- ter MEP elections during which Mus- cat had declared his stance in favour of spring hunting while a number of candidates pledged allegiance to the hunting lobby by supporting a peti- tion organised by the hunting lobby to protect "minorities" from the ref- erendum law. The latest survey, which comes in the wake of Muscat's repeated dec- larations that he will be voting yes to retain spring hunting, shows support for the spring hunting ban falling by 19 points from September. The decline in support for the spring hunting ban among Labour voters is only partially accounted for by a seven-point increase in undecid- ed voters and a five-point increase in non-voters. The survey, which also shows a seven-point increase among Labour voters who intend voting yes, sug- gests that a number of Labour voters have migrated from the 'no' to the 'yes' camp in the past few weeks. Nationalist voters ignore Simon Busuttil The survey shows that the Nation- alist electorate has largely ignored Simon Busuttil's declaration that he will be voting yes to retain the spring hunting derogation. The survey shows a staggering 71% of PN voters who intend voting against spring hunting. Moreover the survey shows that support for the spring hunting dero- gation among PN voters has fallen by five points since September. The percentage of PN voters who intend voting no to hunting has fallen by only two points. The decrease in both camps is translated into an eight-point in- crease in undecided voters within the PN camp. This suggests that the leader of the PN does not wield the same influ- ence over his electorate as the La- bour leader. It could also reflect a different sociological composition of the PN block of voters and the per- ceived allegiance of hunters to the Labour Party. More men for spring hunting A majority of 18-34s and women over 55 want to abolish spring hunt- ing, while a majority of males in all age groups and women aged 35-54 will support the derogation. The survey surprisingly shows the greatest support for the 'no' camp coming from women aged over 55. In this bracket the 'no' camp leads by 10 points. The most undecided category are women aged between 35 to 54. In this category one fifth of respondents (20%) could not express an opinion. The survey shows that women in this bracket may ultimately determine the outcome of the referendum. The survey also shows a dramatic 17-18 point surge for the 'yes' camp in the 18-34 and 34-54 age brackets. The survey confirms previous trends showing strong opposition to spring hunting among university and post secondary educated respond- ents and support for retaining spring hunting among people with a lower educational background. Significantly among respondents with a university level of education a 16-point decline in respondents who oppose spring hunting is cor- responded by a 15-point increase of don't knows. This clearly shows that among this category, support for the spring hunting ban is being dented by apathy. No gains were made by supporters of the spring hunting ban in this category. But among respondents with a post secondary education a decline in un- decided voters is corresponded by an 11-point surge in favour of spring hunting. A direct shift from no to yes is evident among respondents with a secondary level of education. Among the secondary educated a 12-point decrease among opponents of spring hunting is corresponded by a 5-point increase among supporters of the derogation. This may also reflect a Labour majority among this cat- egory. A significant part of the electorate has not followed the directions of the leader of the two main parties which represent 98% of the electorate The survey confirms previous trends showing strong opposition to spring hunting among university and post secondary educated respondents and support for retaining spring hunting among people with a lower educational background Methodology The survey was held between Monday 26 and Thursday 29 January. The results were weighed to reflect the age and gender balance of the population and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points. A total of 864 respondents were contact- ed by telephone. The survey was stopped when a 600 quota sample was reached. September 2014 January 2015 % Change Among PL voters Men 18-34 Women 18-34 Men 35-54 Women 35-54 Men 55+ Women 55+ According to age and sex 38.1% 42.9% 14.2% 40% 35.6% 13.3% 11.1% 38.3% 48.9% 6.4% 4.3% 2.1% 0% 0% 29.4% 37.8% 4.2% 20.2% 36% 42.6% 14% 0.8% 41.8% 31.6% 18.6% 0.8% University Post-Secondary Secondary Primary According to education 67.2% 14.8% 14.7% 0% 49.4% 29.1% 11.4% 6.3% 3.8% 34.6% 42.4% 16% 1.3% 23.6% 46.6% 19.6% 0.7% 39.1% 50.8% 3.4% 6.7% 20.1% 58% 8.2% 13.2% 0.5% -19% 7.2% 4.8% 6.5% 0.5% September 2014 January 2015 % Change Among PN voters 73.3% 20.5% 3.1% 3.1% 71.4% 15.1% 2.4% 11.1% -1.9% -5.4% -0.7% 8% 0% 0% 0% 18-34 35-54 55+ -21.7% 17.2% 8.6% -2% 0% -24% 17.9% 9.9% 3.6% -11.6% -3.6% -10.9% 6% 0.7% 7.8%