site.btaGallup Poll:BSP Gets 30.2% and GERB 28.3%from Those Who Are Determined to Vote in Elections

Gallup Poll: BSP Gets 30.2% and GERB 28.3% from Those Who Are Determined to Vote in Elections

Sofia, March 8 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and GERB remain neck and neck ahead of the March 26 early parliamentary elections, and the likely political configuration in the next National Assembly is 5+1, according to a recent poll conducted by Gallup International. The poll shows that 30.2 per cent of those who are determined to vote in the elections will vote for the BSP For Bulgaria Coalition, and 28.3 per cent for GERB.

Another 11.9 per cent will cast a ballot for the United Patriots, 8.2 per cent for the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, 7.4 per cent for Vesselin Mareshki's Volya party, and 4.3 per cent for the Reformist Bloc - People's Voice Coalition.

These six political entities seem likely today to enter the next legislature, but in the case of the Reformist Bloc - People's Voice Coalition the campaign has to be particularly vigorous because the coalition's score in the poll is very close to the 4 per cent threshold for entry to the National Assembly, Gallup commented.

The agency further noted that GERB has a somewhat wider niche of potential supporters but they have not been fully mobilized yet. The remaining two weeks of the campaign will be crucial as to who wins the elections, the pollsters predicted.

Voter turnout is expected to be around 55 per cent, according to the stated intentions of the respondents. The estimate is based on the data available on the voter lists.

Among the less prominent participants in the race, the ABV - Movement 21 Coalition is expected to garner 2.6 per cent of the votes of those who are determined to go to the polls, the Yes, Bulgaria Movement will win 2.3 per cent, and New Republic will get 1.6 per cent. Some 3.2 per cent of voters will support other parties, DOST being one of them with a score of under 1 per cent. Voter support for such entities is difficult to gauge by sociological methods, Gallup said.

Some 2.8 per cent of those who are determined to vote in the elections will mark the "none of the above" option on the ballot paper, meaning they do not support any of the candidates. These votes are excluded from the election result.

The nationwide poll was carried out face to face with 1,003 respondents between February 27 and March 5. It was independent from external funding. Gallup noted that the poll shows declarative attitudes at a given moment in time and is not a forecast for the election results.