Nearly half of the electorate had already determined their voting preferences prior to the commencement of the Leinster House race, reports RTE.
As reported by RTÉ, Irish Times, TG4, and Trinity College Dublin, an Exit Poll conducted by Ipsos B&A found that 47% of respondents had made their voting decisions before the general election campaign started.
This figure increased with age, with 27% of those aged 18-24 knowing their voting intentions before the campaign, 46% for those aged 25-34, 41% for 35-48 year olds, 50% for individuals aged 50-64, and 62% for those aged 65 and above, reports RTE.
In total, 23% of respondents stated they finalized their voting choices during the election campaign, with figures remaining relatively consistent between 23% and 28% across the first four age groups, dropping to 13% for the 65 and over group.
Additionally, 19% claimed to have made their decision in the final days leading up to the election, including 29% of those aged 18-24, 15% aged 25-34, 22% in the 35-49 age range, 17% among those aged 50-64, and 16% of people over 65.
Furthermore, 11% made their decision on election day itself, which included 15% of 18-24 year olds, 14% of those aged 25-34, 11% in the 35-49 range, 9% for the 50-64 age group, and 8% of individuals aged 65 and up, reports RTE.
According to the Exit Poll, 57% of voters who chose Sinn Féin as their first preference had made that decision before the campaign commenced, compared to 54% for Aontú, 52% for Fine Gael, 46% for Fianna Fáil, 46% for other smaller parties, 43% for People Before Profit-Solidarity, 41% for Labour, 41% for Independents, 40% for Independent Ireland, 33% for the Green Party, and 30% for the Social Democrats.
The Exit Poll was conducted face-to-face outside polling stations at 253 locations nationwide, encompassing all 43 Dáil constituencies.
The total sample consisted of 5,018 participants, with a margin of error of 1.4%, reports RTE.
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