LIBS MIRED IN MID-20S; NDP COMPETITIVE IN SOME REGIONS; GREENS MAY MAKE B.C. FOUR-WAY RACE
[Ottawa – June 3, 2010] – After a small and short-lived surge above the 33% mark which has been elusive for all the parties in 2010, the ruling Conservatives have slipped back into the doldrums in this week’s EKOS tracking poll.
However, there is not much comfort in the poll for the opposition Liberals who remain stuck in the mid-twenties, near to their worst-ever election performance (in terms of votes) in 2008.
“There has been a lot of buzz lately about Jack Layton and the NDP,” said EKOS President, Frank Graves. “The fact is that although Layton is the most popular of the national leaders at the moment, his party is at about the same plateau as it has been since Layton became leader, in the high teens. A further breakthrough is possible, but it is not yet visible.”
The NDP is competitive in British Columbia,Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and parts of Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. However they do not lead in any region of the country at the moment.
The Greens continue to run strongly by historical standards, though their support is concentrated in the younger demographics that are least likely to vote. In British Columbia, however, the Greens are poised to make it a four-way race. In multi-party contests like that, it takes fewer votes to win, and predicting the outcome of particular seats can be difficult. (The Green party leader, Elizabeth May, is running in the BC riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands.)
Click here for the full report: full_report_june_3
I’m all for allowing people to create parties, etc. but a four way race means that a true majority in that particular electoral district is never really probable. As much as I dislike US politics, it’s refreshing in some ways to only have two choices.