NDI: Georgians remain committed to voting on election day (88%), but largely undecided (59%) ahead of parliamentary elections on October 31
Georgians remain committed to voting on election day (88 percent), but largely undecided (59 percent) ahead of parliamentary elections on October 31, - reports the latest public attitudes poll conducted by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and its partner organization CRRC-Georgia.
According to the results of the poll, the issues that the population is mostly concerned about are mainly related to the economy and they thus expect candidates to discuss the ways to solve problems.
"When deciding which party they will vote for, Georgians noted that economic policy (36 percent), healthcare policy (12 percent), and stance on rule of law (12 percent) are among the most important factors. Georgians’ emphasis on a party’s economic policies mirrors their top national concerns, which have consistently included jobs (49 percent), poverty (39 percent) and rising prices/inflation (20 percent).
A quarter of the adult population reports that they are unemployed, a seven percent increase from NDI’s June 2020 poll and likely an indicator of the economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic. At the local level Georgians remain concerned about infrastructural issues, including roads (31 percent), water supply (22 percent), environmental pollution (13 percent), and traffic (13 percent). In Tbilisi, traffic andenvironmental pollution are the top priorities; other urban and rural settlements are focused on water supply and roads.
With election day less than two months away, the majority of Georgians, 56 percent, are confident that the 2020 parliamentary elections will be conducted in a free and fair environment. However, some concerns remain. Approximately a third of Georgians (30 percent) report that bribing of voters presents the biggest challenge to the integrity of elections, followed by violations during voting procedures (15 percent) and abuse of administrative resources (13 percent)", - reads the report.
