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Urals
- Voters in the Urals express a higher level of interest in politics and government than any other region. Nearly half of all voters (45%) are interested while 52% are not interested in politics and government. They also have the highest level of satisfaction (15%) with the direction of the country. Even so, 81% are dissatisfied.
- They are far more likely than average (71%) to mention inflation as a reason for their dissatisfaction (+9%). Other reasons for voter dissatisfaction include: crime (52%), Chechnya (45%), standard of living (42%), unemployment (42%), chaos (35%).
- In open-ended questioning, the economic crisis (21%) and ethnic conflicts (11%) lead the issue agenda. Other issues are: quality of life (10%), peace (10%), high prices (9%), political leaders (8%), and chaos and disorder (6%).
- The region's voters are more optimistic about the political situation (28% will get better -26% will get worse) but of average pessimism on the economic front (23% better - 41% worse).
- Support for state control of the economy is 5%% higher than average (57%) and 17% want to continue economic reforms.
- Voters in the Urals are significantly more likely to say that Russia is a democracy. 55% say that Russia is a democracy and 38% say that it is not.
- Voters in the region are more likely to say that political power should be centralized (37%) while 33% think it should be decentralized.
- Fewer voters look to Russia as a model for development (25%) than in other regions. 14% mention the U.S., 10% Sweden, 8% Germany, 4% Switzerland and 3% Japan. 13% say the Soviet Union (+6%).
- 32% say that Russia should be oriented toward neither the East nor the West. In all, 30% believe Russia would benefit from a western orientation, 11% say the East, and 18% both.
- Voters are highly reliant on media organizations or personalities (50%) for information when making voting decisions. 19% are self-reliant, and 13% look to political parties. 89% say National Channel 1 is useful and 87% call Channel 2 useful. Local television programs receive a 62% useful score (+9). 70% say discussions with friends and family are useful. 72% say that newspapers are useful sources. Local radio is at 66%. 46% say that magazine articles are useful. 32% say that posters are useful and the score for meeting candidates in person is 12% above average at 47%. Public meetings also have a higher than average score (32%). The top sources are National Channel 1 (35%) and Channel 2 (18%).
Institutions and Officials
- Perceptions of corruption are as follows: 50% say that official corruption is very common (-4%) and 31% say fairly common. 9% say that corruption is rare. 60% say that elected officials in Moscow are only interested in helping themselves and 10% say they are interested in improving our lives. A 52% majority say their elected officials are not capable of making any improvement in their circumstances but a national high of 44% say they can make a difference.
- President Yeltsin's job approval score in this region is 28% approve and 67% disapprove. The Duma's approval score is quite high as 36% approve of the State Duma's performance (+13%) and 53% disapprove. Further, 30% approve of the Federation Council and 45% disapprove.
Attitudes Toward the Electoral System
- Perceptions about past fraud are also high in the Urals as 62% believe there was at least some fraud in 1993 (+6%). Further, 54% say there will be fraud in the 1995 elections (+6%).
- Voters in the Urals are also more likely to blame the CEC than those in other regions. Still, local entities are often mentioned.
21%
|
Central Election Commission
|
9%
|
Executive Branch
|
2%
|
Other central authorities
|
11%
|
Local election offices
|
15%
|
Local executive authorities
|
7%
|
Political parties
|
11%
|
Local candidate organizations
|
17%
|
All of these
|
- Improper voting practices have the following scores. Only one person reports seeing financial incentives being offered to voters. The Urals voters are, however, more likely to report that family members (27%) and political party officials (16%) tried to pressure them to vote a certain way. Further, 6% saw poll watchers and 6% saw local/election officials try to influence votes, and 4% say they felt their ballot wouldn't be kept secret. Group voting here is at 15%.
- Voters in the Urals also have a higher than average knowledge score on the CEC. That is, 8% have read or heard a fair amount or more, and 42% have heard nothing at all (-9%). The CEC's job approval here is relatively high as a 34% plurality say they are doing their job well and just 22% poorly.
- Support for the computerization of elections is higher here than in any other region (79%) while 13% are opposed.
- Voters in this region tend to be more favorable toward allowing candidates for the State Duma (33%), the Federation Council (29%) and the Presidency (31%) to receive private contributions. Still, a majority oppose such contributions in all cases and 62% say that a ceiling should be established for such contributions. 72% support a minimum voting threshold for validating elections.
- 30% would like to increase the number of Duma representatives who are elected from party lists, 10% want more from single mandate constituencies, 39% would like the system to stay the same and 19% don't know.
- A 64% majority say the Federation Council should be directly elected, 15% call for indirect elections, and 6% think members should be appointed by the President. 14% don't know.
Voting Patterns
- Voters in the Urals are highly likely to vote. For the Duma elections, 80% say they will vote and 18% will not. However, the percentage of those saying they are certain to vote is only average at 43%. 34% of those age 17-35 are likely voters.
- Planned turnout for the presidential elections is 81% and 51% say they definitely will vote as compared with the national average of 46%.
- Vote efficacy in the region is very high as 62% (+9%) believe that by voting, people can actually change something in the life of our country and 35% say this is not possible.
- The following table rank orders the results of the Presidential ballot test in the region. Lebed has a strong lead, but Chernomyrdin also turns in a strong performance. There is a relatively low undecided level.
Lebed
|
20%
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Chernomyrdin
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14%
|
Yavlinsky
|
12%
|
Zyuganov
|
9%
|
Rutskoi
|
8%
|
Zhirinovsky
|
5%
|
Yeltsin
|
4%
|
Solzhenitsyn
|
4%
|
Gaidar
|
3%
|
Shakhrai
|
2%
|
Staravoitova
|
2%
|
Shumeiko
|
1%
|
Kozyrev
|
1%
|
Don't Know
|
13%
|
Political Parties
- Voters in the Urals find political parties extremely relevant. In all 77% say that political parties are necessary to Russian democracy and 17% say they are not necessary. 48% strongly believe that parties are necessary.
43% feel that several parties is an ideal situation and 15% say that one party is the ideal.
The problem of party definition is apparent in the Urals. While 37% say there are clear differences between the parties, 48% say there are not. Membership is fairly high as 9% say they are members of a party. Interestingly, party membership here is not limited to the Communist Party. In fact, it appears that there is a good distribution of party loyalty as 21% are members of the Communist Party; 17% of Russia's Democratic Choice; 12% the LDPR; 11% Women of Russia; 10% Our Home Russia; and 9% Yabloko. Accordingly, 31% are more likely to vote for a candidate who is affiliated with a political party, 29% are more likely to vote for an unaffiliated candidate, and 33% say it makes no difference.
66% say that political parties speak to the issues that concern the Russian electorate.
- In the Duma ballot, the results are as follows:
Communist Party
|
15%
|
Women of Russia
|
13%
|
Yabloko
|
11%
|
Our Home Russia
|
8%
|
Russia's Democratic Choice
|
7%
|
LDPR
|
5%
|
Derzhava
|
3%
|
Democratic Party of Russia
|
3%
|
Agrarian Party
|
2%
|
Party of Unity and Accord
|
2%
|
Forward Russia
|
1%
|
Stable Russia
|
1%
|
None
|
19%
|
Don't Know
|
9%
|
Voter Education
* 49% say they received enough information from election officials so that they understood the election process;
* Voters in the Urals are also somewhat better informed as 1% have a great deal of information about the Democratic process, 21% have a fair amount, 54% have not very much, and 19% have none at all.
* 76% agree (49% strongly) that they don't have enough information with regard to their rights with regard to the authorities.
* 37% (+4%) say they received enough information about the candidates or parties to make a good choice in the 1993 Parliamentary elections and 46% did not.
* 27% are very or somewhat familiar with their voting rights -- the best score in Russia.
* 20% didn't have enough information on how to check the voter registry and 24% had too little information on means of alternative voting.
* Misunderstandings about voting rights include the following: 32% believe a family member can vote on your behalf by presenting your passport; 34% say that those who don't currently reside in Russia may not vote (-4%), and 46% think those serving time in prison may vote (-9).
* 27% say that those who don't speak Russian may not vote.
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