Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Elections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2004

With voter registration having opened on September 4th a recent poll shows widespread support for elections among Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza. Approximately 85% of Palestinians support holding local elections according to a poll conducted with IRI support and released September 20th by the Development Studies Programme at Birzeit University. About 82% additionally support holding legislative elections and 73% of Palestinians polled support holding presidential elections.

Conversely, only 13% of Palestinians indicated they had actually registered to take part in elections and an additional 58% of eligible voters said they intended to register before the October 7th deadline set by the Palestinian Elections Committee. Results of the poll are prompting numerous Palestinian organizations as well as the Elections Committee to focus increased attention on voter registration challenges. In total, 65% of Palestinians indicated their intent to participate in local elections down from 72% in January 2004.

Voting for the first phase of local elections is scheduled to take place in December 2004 in thirty-six communities across the West Bank and Gaza. Results of the DSP poll conducted September 9 thru 11 indicate that approximately 35% of Palestinians would vote for a Fateh bloc if an election were held on the basis of political blocs. Around 32% indicated they would vote for an Islamist bloc comprised of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and 4% said they would vote for a Leftist bloc. More significant, nearly 30% said they would not vote for any bloc mentioned in the survey.

Established in 1997, the Development Studies Programme is a policy and research center devoted to Palestinian development issues. DSP's activities are overseen by prominent Palestinian survey research expert Dr. Nader Said. Dr. Said holds a doctorate in sociology from Western Michigan University and participated in the 2002 United Nations Arab Human Development Report. This most recent poll is the 18th in a series of public opinion surveys conducted by DSP and supported by IRI. Complete copies of DSP polls can be accessed via their website at http://home.birzeit.edu/dsp.

To view the Poll, please click here.

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