The latest opinion poll reveals that 21 per cent of voters remain undecided ahead of Friday’s presidential election.
The Business Post/Red C survey shows Catherine Connolly leading with 44 per cent support, followed by Heather Humphreys at 25 per cent. Jim Gavin, despite having withdrawn from the race, continues to register 10 per cent in the poll, reports Breaking News.
The poll was carried out online between October 16th and 21st, with Red C interviewing a random sample of 1,012 adults. Results were published at 8pm on Wednesday.
According to The Irish Times, last week’s Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll showed Ms Connolly at 38 per cent — nearly double the backing for Ms Humphreys, who stood at 20 per cent, reports Breaking News.
Mr Gavin recorded 5 per cent in that earlier poll.
Undecided voters made up 18 per cent of respondents, while 12 per cent said they would abstain from voting, and 6 per cent indicated they planned to spoil their ballot, reports Breaking News.
Analysts have suggested that turnout in the upcoming election may reach a record low, with Boyle Sports offering odds of 4/11 that Friday’s vote will mark the lowest participation in Irish presidential election history.
Speaking on Newstalk, Business Post editor Daniel McConnell agreed: “People aren’t engaged. It’s the Friday of a bank holiday weekend. Voters have pretty much every reason not to go out and vote this time around, if you look at it from that perspective. So I do think we are looking at a low turnout,” reports Breaking News.
The last presidential election in 2018 saw Michael D. Higgins re-elected with a turnout of just 43.9 per cent — the lowest in the State’s history.
Mr McConnell said: “I think it will dip below 40% this time around or will be very close to that,” reports Breaking News.
Speaking on Newstalk, Chief Executive Art O’Leary said he is hopeful that younger voters will make their voices heard: “Since the general election in November, 60,000 young people turned 18.
“And I was delighted when the figures were released last week to discover that we have 61,000 new voters who’ll be voting for the first time. I’m hoping that many of those were the young people who turned 18,” reports Breaking News.
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