The public trust in results of elections has slightly decreased compared with 2008: the share of those who think the results of elections cannot be trusted has increased from 10% to 14%.
MOSCOW, March 15, 2012. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data describing whether Russians think the results of elections were trustworthy; how they assess the measures aimed at increasing election transparency; whether they know about the violations during the voting.
A relative majority of Russians are confident that the results of elections are trustworthy and meet the voters` will (44%). Those who think so are mainly supporters of V.Putin (66%). Almost one-third of respondents admit that there were a number of falsifications that did not have any impact on the final results (34%): they are mainly supporters of M. Prokhorov (47%). Those who think that the results of elections should not be trusted are in the minority (14%).
Russians positively assess the measures taken to increase election transparency: 69% of respondents think that the installation of web-cams at the polling stations was an effective measure. The setting up of the Voters` league was positively perceived by 61% (before elections – 56%).
Most of respondents (55%) do not know anything about violations during elections. The remainder often state that they heard about it from mass media (34%). The shares of those who knew about the violations from the Internet or from the stories of relatives (9% for each group) or due to personal experience (2%) are in the minority.
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted March 10-11, 2011. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
In your opinion, how much can we trust the results of the recent presidential elections in Russia? | |||
| 2004 presidential elections | 2008 presidential elections | 2012 presidential elections |
I think that the results of elections are trustworthy and meet the voters` will | 53 | 53 | 44 |
There might have been a number of violations or falsifications at polling stations, but they did not affect the final results | 30 | 28 | 34 |
I think the results of elections should not be trusted | 8 | 10 | 14 |
Hard to tell | 9 | 9 | 8 |
Could you assess the effectiveness of the measure aimed to increase election transparency and to combat falsifications? (close-ended question, one answer per each position) | ||
Installation of web-cams at all polling stations | January 2012 | March 2012 |
Rather effective measure; it made the elections more honest | 67 | 69 |
Rather ineffective measure; it did not make the elections more honest | 24 | 21 |
Hard to tell | 9 | 11 |
Setting up of Voters` League; training of public observers | January 2012 | March 2012 |
Rather effective measure; it made the elections more honest | 56 | 61 |
Rather ineffective measure; it did not make the elections more honest | 28 | 20 |
Hard to tell | 17 | 19 |
Do you know anything about the violations during the presidential elections? If yes, could you name the sources of the information? (close-ended question, any number of answers) | |
Television, radio, print media | 34 |
Internet | 9 |
Stories of friends, relatives | 9 |
Personal experience | 2 |
I do not know about any violations | 55 |
Hard to tell | 4 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!