SWS: 80% of Pinoys satisfied with conduct of May 13 polls

FILE: VOTING PRECINCT. Voters fill up their ballots for the Mid-Term Elections in Precinct No. 109325 at Dela Paz Elementary School, Antipolo City, on Monday (May 13, 2019). Some 61 million Filipinos are expected to participate in this year’s polls. (PNA photo by Rico Borja)

Many Filipinos said they were satisfied with the conduct of the May 13 polls, the Second Quarter 2019 Social Weather Survey released on Tuesday, August 6.

The latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed that 80 percent of their 1,200 respondents were “satisfied” with the conduct of the elections, while 12 percent were “dissatisfied.” Seven percent of them, on the other hand, were “undecided.”

This figure, however, was five points below the record-high “excellent” +73 recorded in June, as it obtained only a net satisfaction rating of +68, classified by the pollster as “very good.”

The net satisfaction of the May 2019 elections was seen highest in Mindanao at “excellent” +77, followed by Visayas at “excellent” +71, Balance Luzon at “very good” +66, and Metro Manila at “very good” +54.

Seventy-nine percent of the survey respondents also agreed with the statement, “The COMELEC (Commission on Elections) performed its job independently without favoring any candidate or group.” Ten percent of them, however, disagreed with it, while 11 percent were undecided.

This yielded a net agreement score of “extremely strong” +70, a nine-point increase from the +61 in June 2013.

The SWS noted that the net agreement on the impartiality of the COMELEC was extremely strong in all areas, with Visayas being the highest at +77, followed closely by Mindanao at +76, Balance Luzon at +69, and Metro Manila at +51.

May 2019 poll results ‘believable’

The same survey also revealed that 86 percent of the respondents said the results of the May 2019 polls are “believable” for senators, six points below the 92 percent in June 2016.

Eighty-eight percent of them, meanwhile, said they were convinced with the election results for members of the House of Representatives, while 84 percent said the same regarding the election results for governors. Eighty-nine percent also found the May 2019 election results for mayor believable.

The number of those who believe the May 2019 poll results for senators was highest in Mindanao at 90 percent, followed by Balance Luzon at 86 percent, Visayas at 86 percent, and Metro Manila at 81 percent. For the lawmakers in the lower chamber, it was highest in Mindanao at 91 percent; followed by Balance Luzon at 89 percent, Visayas at 88 percent, and Metro Manila at 80 percent.

In regards to the those who believe the election results of the governors, it was highest in Balance Luzon at 91 percent, then Mindanao at 76 percent, and Visayas at 76 percent. Meanwhile, many of those who believe in the election results for the mayors were in Balance Luzon at 91 percent, then Mindanao at 90 percent, Visayas at 88 percent, and Metro Manila at 81 percent.

The latest survey was done from June 22-26 using face-to-face interviews of its respondents. It has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percent for national percentages and plus or minus six percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.