April 13, 2012 - 13:52 AMT
Sociologist says 17.9 % of voters expect material benefits from candidates

A survey conducted by Exit Poll, a sociological research center shows that 17.9 per cent of respondents vote for a party or candidate because they expect to get some kind of material support.

“These people are mostly middle-aged or older. People of this age group are perhaps more sincere in their responses,” Center’s expert Levon Andreasyan said at a press conference on April 13.

The specialist also noted that 12% of respondents will favor this or that force by request of their relatives or friends; 9.4 per cent will give their votes to those they trust, while 8.4 per cent say they prefer a party whose activity they believe favors the national interests.

According to the survey findings, the two ruling parties (Republican Party of Armenia and Prosperous Armenia) will jointly secure over 50% of votes, while ARF Dashnaktsutyun, opposition Armenian National Congress and Heritage will share the rest.

Also, the survey shows, 13.2 of respondents have yet to decide on their political preferences.

Exit Poll center conducted the research in Yerevan and Armenia's provincial centers on March 22 - April 8, by order of Political and Social Research Institute for Black Sea-Caspian Region.