Voters Abandon Major Parties, Pollster Kos Samaras Says
As we enter the final days of campaigning, Labor leads with its nose in front on most polls, but the devil is in the detail of particular seats.
To help get a read on what the voters are feeling at this late stage, we’re joined by RedBridge director Kos Samaras.
RedBridge – a political research company, whose directors include both former Labor strategists like Samaras and former Liberal strategist Tony Barry – has been conducting focus groups and polling throughout the campaign.
On Labor’s polling lead, Samaras says
On the large number of soft voters, Samaras says soft voters are more likely to represent people shifting from the majors to the minor parties, rather then from Liberal to Labor.
By Saturday April 27, more than 2.3 million Australians (more than 13%) had already voted with a week to go to election day, according to analyst Antony Green . More than half a million votes were cast on the first day alone – a new record .
On that early voting trend, Samaras says while it’s “standard practice now” that people vote early, both major parties have been too slow to adapt to this change.
After a lacklustre campaign, voters are seeing Albanese as “the least worst option”:
And on political candidates lying in elections, Samaras says Australians think
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.