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Far East
- Voters in the Far East have average interest in politics and government. In all, 30% are interested and 68% are not interested in politics and government. They also mirror the nation's high dissatisfaction with the situation in the country. Only 9% are satisfied and 83% are dissatisfied.
- They are more concerned about unemployment than average (40%). Otherwise, their level of concern about various issues is average. For example, inflation is at 62%, crime is at 51%, Chechnya (33%), standard of living (49%), and chaos (29%).
- In open-ended questioning, the economic crisis (23%) and quality of life (19%) lead the list. Political leadership (9%) and peace (8%) are in the next tier.
- Pessimism about the political situation is a bit high in the Far East as just 17% say it will get better and 40% that it will get worse. On the economy, 21% say it will get better and 43% believe it will worsen.
- Voters in the Far East are also highly supportive of a return to state control of the economy (62%). Only 14% would prefer to continue economic reforms.
- A slight plurality of voters in the Far East say that Russia is a democracy (43%) while 40% say it is not.
- They are also divided on whether political power should be centralized (32%) or decentralized (28%).
- 32% say Russia is its own best model for development. 12% mention the U.S., 6% Sweden, 3% Germany, 4% Switzerland and 4% Japan. 6% say the Soviet Union.
- 38% say that Russia should be oriented toward neither the East nor the West while 22% believe Russia would benefit from a western orientation, 5% say the East, and 14% both.
- Voters here are mainly reliant on media organizations or personalities (47%) for information when making voting decisions. 25% are self-reliant, and 5% look to family and friends for information. 87% say National Channel 1 is useful and 78% say Channel 2 is useful. Local television utility is low (39%). 48% say discussions with friends and family are useful. 72% say that newspapers are useful sources. Local radio is at 50%. 49% say that magazine articles are useful. The top sources are National Channel 1 (43%) and Channel 2 (9%).
Institutions and Officials
- Perceptions of corruption are as follows: 55% say that official corruption is very common (+1%) and 25% say fairly common. 5% say that corruption is rare. 56% say that elected officials in Moscow are only interested in helping themselves and 5% say they are interested in improving our lives. 37% say their elected officials can make an improvement in their circumstances while 51% say they cannot.
- President Yeltsin's job approval score in this region stands at 16% approve and 71% disapprove. The Duma's approval score is 19% approve and 51% disapprove. 15% approve of the Federation Council and 39% disapprove.
Attitudes Toward the Electoral System
- Perceptions of electoral fraud in the Far East are at average levels for the 1993 elections and slightly above average for the 1995 elections. That is, 57% believe there was at least some fraud in 1993 (+1%) and 54% say there will be fraud in the 1995 elections (+6%).
- Perceived sources of fraud are as follows:
16%
|
Central Election Commission
|
8%
|
Executive Branch
|
4%
|
Other central authorities
|
6%
|
Local election offices
|
4%
|
Local executive authorities
|
9%
|
Political parties
|
6%
|
Local candidate organizations
|
33%
|
All of these
|
- Improper voting practices have the following scores. 2% report seeing financial incentives being offered to voters. 4% saw poll watchers and 6% saw local/election officials try to influence votes. 2% say they felt their ballot wouldn't be kept secret. Reports of group voting are low at 11%.
- Regarding the CEC, 6% have read or heard a fair amount or more, and 51% have heard nothing at all. The CEC's job approval scores are low here as 56% can't rate their performance. Overall, 18% say they are doing their job well and 19% say poorly.
- 70% support the computerization of elections and 10% are opposed.
- A majority of voters in this region oppose allowing candidates for the State Duma (58%), the Federation Council (59%), and the Presidency (60%) to receive private campaign contributions. 63% say that a ceiling should be established for such contributions, 58% support a minimum voting threshold for validating elections,
- 23% would like to increase the number of Duma representatives who are elected from party lists, 5% want more from single mandate constituencies, 17% would like the system to stay the same and 54% don't know.
- 62% say the Federation Council should be directly elected, 12% call for indirect elections, and 2% think members should be appointed by the President.
Voting Patterns
- Voters in the Far East are likely to vote. 71% say they plan to vote in the Duma elections, and 16% say they will not vote. The percentage of those saying they are certain to vote is 47%. 36% of all young voters are likely to vote.
- Projected turnout for the presidential elections is at 74% with a definite vote of 47%.
- Vote efficacy scores in the region are as follows: 50% (-3%) believe that by voting, people can actually change something in the life of our country and 39% (-1) say this is not possible.
- The following table rank orders the results of the Presidential ballot test in the region.
Yavlinsky
|
12%
|
Lebed
|
11%
|
Zyuganov
|
9%
|
Rutskoi
|
7%
|
Solzhenitsyn
|
6%
|
Yeltsin
|
6%
|
Chernomyrdin
|
4%
|
Staravoitova
|
4%
|
Zhirinovsky
|
4%
|
Shakhrai
|
3%
|
Gaidar
|
2%
|
Kozyrev
|
2%
|
Shumeiko
|
1%
|
Rybkin
|
1%
|
Don't Know
|
29%
|
Political Parties
- 61% say that political are necessary for Russian democracy and 18% say they are not. 39% strongly believe that parties are necessary (-8%).
Support for having Just one party is 12% below average at 30%. 26% say that one party would be ideal.
The problem of party definition is also apparent in the Far East. Only 28% say there are clear differences between the parties, 36% feel there are not clear differences, and 33% don't know. In all, only 7% say they are members of a party. 26% say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who is affiliated with a political party, 23% who are more likely to vote for an unaffiliated candidate, and 29% who say it makes no difference.
Overall, just 49% (-9%) say that political parties speak to the issues that concern the Russian electorate and 26% say they do not.
- In the Duma ballot, the results are as follows:
Communist Party
|
24%
|
Women of Russia
|
12%
|
Yabloko
|
6%
|
Russia's Democratic Choice
|
4%
|
Democratic Party of Russia
|
2%
|
LDPR
|
2%
|
Agrarian Party
|
2%
|
Our Home Russia
|
2%
|
Party of Unity and Accord
|
2%
|
Derzhava
|
1%
|
Forward Russia
|
0%
|
Movement for Dem. Reforms
|
0%
|
Stable Russia
|
0%
|
Party of Economic Freedom
|
*
|
None
|
17%
|
Don't Know
|
18%
|
Voter Education
* 45% say they received enough information from election officials so that they understood the election process;
* 2% have a great deal of information about the Democratic process, 17% have a fair amount, 50% have not very much, and 23% have none at all.
* 59% agree (41% strongly) that they don't have enough information with regard to their rights with regard to the authorities.
* 29% (-4%) say they received enough information about the candidates or parties to make a good choice in the 1993 Parliamentary elections and 52% did not.
* Only 13% are very or somewhat familiar with their voting rights (-2%) and 31 % are not at all familiar.
* 27% didn't have enough information on how to check the voter registry and 20% had too little information on means of alternative voting.
* Misunderstandings about voting rights include the following: 44% believe a family member can vote on your behalf by presenting your passport (tie for first); 38% say that those who don't currently reside in Russia may not vote. 48% say that prisoners may vote.
* A high percentage (36%) say that those who don't speak Russian may not vote.
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