Three out of five people who took part in a Misco survey said they will not vote for their preferred political party if it proposes to introduce abortion.

Of these respondents, one-third said they would vote for another party, while another one-third said they will not vote at all.

The remaining one-third simply said that they would not vote for their preferred party. This means they could either switch parties, or not vote at all.

The objective of the survey - carried out among 526 respondents between March 8 and 13 - was to assess the potential impact of the abortion issue on voting behaviour.

Of the respondents, only one in five said they will vote for their preferred party if it proposed introducing abortion in Malta.

23% said it would not make any difference.

On a candidate basis, 53% of respondents said that they would prefer to vote for candidates who are against the introduction of abortion in Malta.

Only 19% said they would vote for candidates who are in favour of abortion, and for 28% it does not make any difference.

Parliament in December voted in favour of an amendment that will allow for abortions when a woman's life or health is at serious risk. 

The proposed legislation is now subject to tweaks at the committee stage and the final vote is expected to be held this year. 

59% of all respondents believe the law presented in parliament will effectively introduce abortion in Malta.

In a similar vein, 28% agree with the government’s current abortion proposal, while 55% disagree, most notably as one moves up the age scale and among those with a higher standard of education.

When the respondents were asked whether they would vote for a party with a stand against abortion, 48% said that they would vote for it.

20% said they would not vote for it, while 23% said that it would not make any difference in their voting preference.

A further 9% said that they would not vote.