Presidential election poll shows rise in voter uncertainty
Voter uncertainty is on the increase in Finland’s presidential elections with almost one in three voters still undecided on their candidate of choice in a YLE commissioned survey. The poll also shows an increase in support for Green league candidate Pekka Haavisto.
In December, some 25% of respondents were undecided while in November the figure stood at 15%.
Sauli Niinistö, candidate of the National Coalition Party, remains the front runner but his support in the poll showed a drop to 37%. This compares to 49 % in November and 40 % in December.
Green League candidate Pekka Haavisto and Centre Party candidate Paavo Väyrynen remain neck and neck in second place. Support for Haavisto stood at 8.3 percent with that for Väyrynen at 8.2 percent.
Finns Party candidate Timo Soini had a support rating of seven percent in the poll. Support for SDP candidate Paavo Lipponen has dropped to four percent while Left Alliance candidate Paavo Arhinmäki on five percent. Trailing the field are Swedish Peoples' Party candidate Eva Biaudet with a two percent support rating and Christian Democrat candidate Sari Essayah with one percent.
The poll also showed 68 % of respondents said they would definitely vote while one in five said they would not bother to cast their ballot.
Pollster Taloustutkimus interviewed 978 persons over the New Year period. The margin of error is 2.5 percentage points.
Finns vote in presidential elections on January, 22. If no candidate gains an absolute majority, a second round of voting will take place on February, 5.
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