Over a third undecided how to vote in referendum on EU

The number of those who are undecided about how they would vote in a referendum on EU membership has grown dramatically. according to a survey carried out by the producers of the TVM programme, Xarabank.

Over a third of those surveyed said that they were undecided (35.9%), compared with just 13.1% during a similar survey held in February.

The results showed that 38.2% of the sample said they would vote in favour of accession, while 21.4% would vote against.

A high percentage of those who were undecided affected both the 'yes' and 'no' votes, although the 'no' vote suffered more than the 'yes'. Compared with the February survey, the percentage of those who would vote 'yes' fell by 7.2, while that of the 'noes' fell by 12.4.

Those who said they would not vote in the referendum represented 4.6%, compared with 7.7% in the previous survey.

The respondents were asked how would they vote if a referendum on whether Malta should join the EU was held the following day.

The survey results were announced during Friday's programme, during which EU Commissioner for Enlargement Günter Verheugen was interviewed.

This survey was carried out by Malta Polls on behalf of Xarabank between October 11 and 15. Survey questionnaires were done by phone interviews.

In total, 1,208 respondents chosen at random were asked one opinion question on EU membership as well as other demographic questions.

Besides the normal four socio-economic groups, a fifth category was also included to incorporate housewives, while a sixth was added for students.

Analysed by gender, it resulted that 44.6% of males would vote for accession, 24.4% would vote against, 26.8% were undecided and 4.2% would not vote.

Of the women, 34.7% said they would vote for accession, 19.7% against, 40.9% were undecided and 4.7% would not vote.

This shows that more men have made up their mind on EU membership than women.

The age groups with the highest vote in favour of EU membership were the 55-64 (41.4% of this age group) and the 65+ (41%).

Among those who voted against Malta's accession, the highest percentage was obtained in the 45-54 age cohort (23.6%) and the 55-64 age cohort (24.2%).

The highest rate of undecided voters was among the 25-34 age group (43.3%).

The age bracket with the highest score among those who would not vote in the referendum was the 17-24 age group (10.2%).

The age groups 35-44 and 45-54 had similar results with around 37% in favour, 21% against, 37% undecided and 3.7% who would not vote.

The highest 'yes' vote was among professionals, managerial, administrative (62.7%), while the highest 'no' vote was in the category of skilled manual workers and foremen. The socio-economic grouping that was most undecided was the housewives' category (42.6%) followed by higher clerical, supervisors, skilled craftsmen, technicians, owners of small businesses (35.5%).

The students' vote was pro-EU membership, with 48.8% in favour, 12.2% against and 31.7% undecided.

The vote in favour or against EU membership tended to follow political party lines with the electoral districts that are usually favour one party voting consistently, as in a general election.

For instance, the 'yes' vote was very strong in districts in which the Nationalist Party usually has a majority, such as the first (43.1% yes, 19% no) and tenth (58.9% yes, 8.9% no).

On the other hand, the 'no' vote was popular in districts dominated by the MLP. In the second district, 35% said they would vote against membership and 21.7% in favour. In the fourth district, 30.5% said they would vote 'no', while 25.7% would vote 'yes'.

Gozo's vote was 49.3% in favour, 18.7% against, 26.7% undecided, and 5.3% would not vote.

The district with the highest rate of undecided voters was the seventh (43.1%) followed by the third (40%) and the fourth (39%).

The district with the highest percentage of those would not vote was the second (10%).

Last Friday's Xarabank is being repeated on TVM today at 3 p.m., with Mr Verheugen's replies being given in the original English.