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When Voting Decision Made

31 Aug 2010

Q. When did you make your decision about which party to vote for in last week’s Federal election?

  Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
More than 4 weeks before the election 55% 60% 65% 38%
2-4 weeks before the election 15% 15% 16% 19%
In the last week before the election 9% 8% 9% 15%
The day before the election 3% 4% 1% 5%
The day of the election but before I went to vote 5% 4% 4% 9%
When I got to the polling booth 9% 6% 4% 12%
Don’t know 3% 2% 1% 2%

More than half the respondents had decided their vote more than 4 weeks before the election. 27% decided during the election campaign before polling day and 14% only decided on polling day (9% when they got to the polling booth). Greens voters were most likely to delay making their decision, with 21% saying they only decided on the day of the election. 25% of those who voted for independents or other parties only decided when they got to the polling booth.

Older voters decided earlier than younger voters – 67% of those aged 55+ decided more than 4 weeks before the election compared to 43% of under 35’s. 19% of under 35’s decided on the day of the election compared to only 6% of aged 55+.

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