Former PN MP Calls For Study On How Regular Election Surveys May Have Influenced People’s Minds
Former PN MP Clyde Puli called for a detailed study into how regular surveys forecasting a massive electoral victory for PL may have influenced the Maltese electorate.
Puli, who withdrew his candidature at the start of the campaign, said that while political parties should take heed of scientific surveys, the fact that these survey findings were so regular and consistent could have led to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
“Some psychologists have said that public opinion as expressed in regular surveys can impact voters’ attitudes on an individual level, the so-called bandwagon effect,” Puli, a sociologist, argued.
“Surveys could therefore have sealed public opinion on the validity of the 2017 election and perpetuated that choice, while influencing more people to shift towards what the majority wanted.”
Puli said that surveys may have influenced parts of the electorate to change their behaviour, citing the manner in which Bernard Grech was voted in to replace Adrian Delia on the back of regular disastrous surveys for the PN leader.
On the other hand, he said that PL supporters who felt disappointed in the government may have boycotted the election or spoiled the vote, safe in the knowledge that their party was going to win anyway.
“I have no doubt that the survey factor doesn’t tell the whole story of this election but I believe a study will help us understand the effects this phenomenon had on the electorate and the parties in recent elections,” he said.
The PL won the 2022 election by some 39,000 votes over the PN, a record in Maltese history. Following the result, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech has pledged to remain in charge.
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