Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/470920
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 MARCH 2015 17 MaltaToday Survey 7-point lead for No camp shown to have fallen from 59% to 44%. By September 2014 support for the spring hunting ban had risen again to 50%. But in January 2015, following Muscat's declaration that he would be voting in favour of the derogation, support for the spring hunting ban fell again from 50% to 39%. Opposition to the spring hunting ban also rose by five points in a sur- vey held after the MEP elections in 2014 and by 13 points after Muscat declared that he will be voting to re- tain the derogation. This suggests that the Yes vote contains a solid core of pro-hunting voters who constitute 30% of the electorate and a vital segment of La- bour voters who tend to follow the party leader. Support for the spring hunting ban declined from 39% in September to 20% in January and has remained stable over the past month. What has changed among PL voters is that op- position to the ban has now dropped by six points over the last month. But despite this drop the survey confirms that a majority of Labour voters continues to support the hunting lobby. But although the No side has not made any gains among this category of voters the shift of Labour voters from Yes to undecided suggests that some PL voters may be changing their mind. But it could also suggest a lack of interest in a campaign which has seen the political leaders take a backseat. The increase of undecided voters could also reflect a tendency by voters to withhold voting inten- tions when elections or referenda are closer. Among PN voters the large major- ity (67%) remains opposed to spring hunting despite the declaration by party leader Simon Busuttil that he would vote to retain the derogation. But apathy has also grown among PN voters where the number of un- decided respondents has gone up by four points. Among PN voters it is the No cam- paign which sees its support drop by 3.7 points. The Yes campaign among PN voters also loses two points. Post-secondary educated shifting to the No Significantly the survey shows the No camp making significant inroads among post secondary educated vot- ers, who continued their education after secondary level but did not go to university. Among this category sup- port for the No camp has increased by four points while support for the Yes camp declined by 11 points. In this category the number of unde- cided increased by 14 points while those who would not vote dropped by five points. This category is particularly signifi- cant as it saw a major shift from PN to PL before the 2013 general elec- tion. Among university-educated voters both camps have lost ground, with the No camp losing seven points and the Yes losing three. Undecided vot- ers and those who refused to divulge their vote have increased by nine points. Support for the pro-hunting lobby also went down by six points among secondary educated respondents and by 11 points among those with a primary level of education. While the Yes makes no gains among the secondary educated, it gained seven points among those with a primary level of education. Opposition to spring hunting re- mains strongest among the universi- ty educated (60%) and lowest among those with a primary level of educa- tion (31%). Middle aged males shifting to No Opposition to spring hunting is now strongest among males aged between 34 and 54 years. On the other hand support for retaining the spring hunting derogation is strong- est among males aged over 55 years. The survey shows males in the middle aged group shifting towards the No camp. Among males aged between 34 and 54 the No camp has gained six points. Among males aged over 55 years the No camp has lost a point while the Yes camp has lost seven points. The most undecided cohorts are women aged between 18 and 34, where the No retains a considerable lead, but 30% are undecided, and women aged between 35 and 54 years of age, where 26% are undecided. Males aged between 18 and 34 years of age are the most likely not to vote (13%) followed by males aged over 55 years of age (12%). Significantly both cohorts have seen a shift from voting no to not voting. Over the last month the survey has seen the number of undecided vot- ers rising drastically among younger voters. Among females aged under 34 the percentage of undecided vot- ers has shot up by 19 points while among males it has shot up by eight points. PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD