SWS: 86% of voters to vote ‘above self-interest’

Nearly nine out of 10 Filipino voters will vote according to social interest rather than self-interest, while most are likely to follow their consciences rather than the "bandwagon" in making their choice. These were among the findings of a survey conducted by pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) April 16 to 19, and released on Sunday. "[Eighty-six percent] of registered voters will vote according to social interest rather than self-interest by choosing 'I will vote for a candidate if most will benefit from him/her, even if I myself will not' over 'I will vote for a candidate if I will benefit personally from him/her, even if most will not,'" SWS said on its Web site (www.sws.org.ph). SWS said its survey also found that majorities would decide for themselves rather than be told whom to vote for. Most also believed popular support rather than political machinery would win the election for a candidate, and would follow their consciences rather than bandwagons, it added. Social interest vs self-interest When asked to compare social interest and self-interest, 86 percentchose to say that "I will vote for a candidate if most will benefit from him/her, even if I myself will not," and only 14 percent chose to say that "I will vote for a candidate if I will benefit personally from him/her, even if most will not". The latest percentage of social-interest answers is higher compared to 79 percent in April 2007, SWS said. On the question comparing independent-minded voting over command voting, 84 percemt chose to say that "Most people here decide for themselves whom to vote for" and only 16 percent chose to say that "Many people here are just told by the leaders who to vote for." The new proportion of voters believing that people would vote independently is similar to 81-85 percent in the pre-election surveys of 2001 and 2004. "It is higher than 79-80 percent in the pre-election surveys of 2007, but not as high as 89 percent in the pre-election survey of 1998," SWS said. When asked to choose between the statements "A candidate wins due to true popular support, with or without political machinery," and "The political machinery of a candidate wins the election for him/her," 78 percent chose popular support and 21 percent chose political machinery. The latest percentage of popular-support answers is higher than 63-66 percent in the SWS pre-election surveys of 2004 and 2007, but not as high as 85 percent in the pre-election survey of 1992, SWS said. Consciences over bandwagons When asked "May mga nagsasabi na dapat bumoto nang ayon sa konsensya, manalo man o matalo ang kandidatong ibinoto. May mga nagsasabi naman na sayang lang ang boto kung malamang na matatalo ang kandidato kaya's dapat iboto kung sino ang nangunguna at malamang na mananalo. [There are those who say that one should vote according to one's conscience, whether or not the candidate would win. There are others who say that a vote for a losing candidate would be wasted, therefore, one should vote for a candidate who leads and would probably win]," 77 percent chose the conscience vote by saying "Vote according to one's conscience" and 23 percent chose the bandwagon vote by saying "Vote for the one you think will win." "The conscience-vote answers have ranged between 77 percent and 87 percent in 10 SWS national pre-election surveys from 1992 to the present," SWS said. Area patterns The April 2010 survey found that while most voters across all major study areas believe in social interest, independent-minded voting, popular support, and conscience-voting, the proportion of those who belief in self-interest voting, command voting, and political machinery tend to rise the farther away from the capital. Voting to benefit self-interest over social interest is 20 percent in Mindanao and 15 percent in the Visayas, slightly higher compared to 11 percent in Balance Luzon and 8% in Metro Manila. Command votes tend to be more visible in areas farther away from the capital, the survey showed. It is 22 percent in Mindanao, compared to 17 percent in the Visayas, 14 percent in Balance Luzon, and 12 percent in Metro Manila. Belief in political machinery over popular support is 28 percent in the Visayas and 22 percent in Mindanao, slightly higher compared to 19 percent in Metro Manila and 18 percent in Balance Luzon. Only the visibility of bandwagon voting does not have a clear pattern across areas: it is 25 percent in Balance Luzon, 23 percent in Mindanao, 21 percent in Metro Manila, and 20 percent in the Visayas. Class patterns Regardless of class, most voters value social interest, independent-minded voting, popular support, and conscience-voting. Opinions tend to vary across classes only on self-interest over social interest: those who will vote according to self-interest over social interest is 18 percent in class E, slightly higher compared to 13 percent in class D or the “masa," and 9 percent in class ABC. The April 2010 survey was conducted April 16 to 19, using face-to-face interviews of 2,400 registered voters, divided into random samples of 300 in Metro Manila, 900 in Balance Luzon, and 600 each in Visayas and Mindanao. Sampling error margins of ±2 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila, ±3% for Balance Luzon, and ±4 percent for Visayas and Mindanao applied to the survey. —KBK, GMANews.TV