Half of voters wi*l not participate in party nominations – survey
More than half of the potential voters will not participate in party nominations in April.
A poll released yesterday by Trends and Insights for Africa (Tifa) found that 49 per cent of those polled said they were ready to vote for their preferred candidates in the primaries.
Leading parties and coalitions are preparing to hold the nominations as required by the Political Parties Act next month.
United Democratic Alliance supporters were the most enthusiastic about the nominations as 68 per cent of those who associate with the party said they will participate.
ODM supporters were second at 55 per cent and third were Wiper members (50 per cent). Supporters of small parties (56 per cent) were also eager to participate.
UDA is led by Deputy President William Ruto and it will be participating in the elections for the first time unlike competitors ODM, Jubilee, Wiper or ANC.
“Given UDA’s leading national popularity, it is not surprising that its supporters are most enthusiastic about participating in the nomination process,” said the pollster.
Those not associated with any party also showed interest in the nominations even though the law does not allow anyone not registered with a party to vote in its primaries.
“It is also striking that even a substantial proportion of those who currently decline to associate themselves with any political party nevertheless say they will participate in such nominations,” Tifa said.
The Political Parties Act was recently amended to lock out anyone who has not registered with an party from voting in nominations.
The activation of small parties was also captured in the poll with 56 per cent of those associated with them saying they did not mind being members and participating in their nominations.
Eighty three per cent of those polled said they will vote in the August elections. However, nine per cent said they will not vote.
“Among those who say they will not vote, most say that they either find nothing attractive to choose from in terms of political parties/candidates or have insufficient faith that their vote will make any difference to their lives (26 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively).
Other reasons of significant proportions are that they are not/will not be a registered voter and that they lack faith in the election’s integrity (17 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively),” revealed the pollster.
