EIGHTY-SIX percent of registered voters will vote according to social interest rather than self-interest, according to the April pre-election poll of the Social Weather Stations.
Majority will also decide for themselves rather than be told whom to vote for, believe popular support rather than political machinery wins the election for a candidate, and will follow their consciences rather than bandwagons, the survey found.
The survey showed that nearly nine of every 10 voters chose to say, “I will vote for a candidate if most will benefit from him/her, even if I myself will not” over “I will vote for a candidate if I will benefit personally from him/her, even if most will not.”
The latest percentage of social-interest answers is higher compared to 79 percent in the research organization’s April 2007 poll.
Eighty-four percent replied that “Most people here decide for themselves whom to vote for,” which is similar to 81 to 85 percent in the 2001 and 2004 pre-election surveys, higher than 79-80 percent in 2007 sruveys, but not as high as 89 percent in the 1998 poll.
Asked to choose between the statements, “A candidate wins due to true popular support, with or without political machinery,” and “The political machinery of a candidate wins the election for him/her,” 78 percen chose popular support and 21 percent chose political machinery.
Given the introductory statement: “There are those who say that one should vote according to one’s conscience, whether or not the candidate would win. There are others who say that a vote for a losing candidate would be wasted, therefore, one should vote for a candidate who leads and would probably win,” 77 percent chose the conscience vote by saying “Vote according to one’s conscience” and 23 percent chose the bandwagon vote by saying “Vote for the one you think will win.”