Polls
8 November 2018 (Vancouver, BC) – The BC Liberals take a narrow lead over the NDP while the referendum on electoral reform is a dead heat.
Those are the findings from Mainstreet Research’s latest UltraPoll, a conglomeration of ten provincial polls. The poll surveyed 616 British Columbians between October 31st to November 2nd 2018. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.92% and is accurate 19 times out of 20.
“The story right now in BC politics is the referendum on electoral reform”, said Quito Maggi, President and CEO of Mainstreet Research. “This is shaping up to be the closest referendum in BC history and its outcome is far from certain.”
50.5% of respondents say that they will vote for the existing first past the post system, while 49.5% said that they would vote for a proportional representation system.
“The referendum could go either way especially as less than 1% of eligible voters have cast their votes so far,” continued Maggi. “One thing to note is that there is a significant age gap in support for electoral reform.”
62% of respondents between the ages of 18 to 34 say they will vote for PR, while the same amount of respondents over the age of 65 say they will vote for the existing system.
The poll also found that the BC Liberals have widened their lead slightly over the NDP.
Among decided and leaning voters, the Liberals led by Andrew Wilkinson lead with 33.9%, but the governing NDP led by John Horgan follow closely with 32.3% of support. The BC Green Party with Andrew Weaver at the helm have 18.2%.
“The slight dip for the NDP is likely due to an uptick of support for the Greens,” said Maggi. “That said, the NDP and the BC Liberals remain in a statistical tie.”
The poll also asked favourability ratings for four party leaders and found that only Premier Horgan has a net positive favourability rating.
“This is a bright spot in these findings for the NDP,” continued Maggi. “Horgan has the highest favourability rating out of the four major party leaders.”
Mainstreet Bc Nov8 by on Scribd
