More people in Chaguanas West are interested in issues affecting their constituency rather than national issues, according to a poll by the ANSA McAL Psychological Research Centre. Constituents were asked, “In this by-election, are you voting on issues that affect Chaguanas West or on national issues?” The majority of those interviewed said they will be voting on issues affecting Chaguanas West. This is how they answered:
• issues affecting Chaguanas West—40 per cent
• national Issues—33 per cent
• both—19 per cent
• none—3 per cent
• not voting—5 per cent
These results are from a survey conducted in Chaguanas West by the ANSA McAL Psychological Research Centre based at the University of the West Indies in St Augustine for the Trinidad Guardian. This poll was conducted between July 19 and 21, face to face, with a representative random sample of 526 respondents and was supervised by Dr Derek Chadee, director of the centre. Chadee is a senior lecturer in the Department of Behavioural Sciences at UWI.
The respondents comprised people eligible to vote, with six per cent Afro-Trinidadians, 90 per cent Indo-Trinidadians and four per cent in the Mixed category. The sample consisted of 48 per cent females and 52 per cent males. The pollster said the margin of error is plus or minus four per cent. The poll reported when the question was asked if they were voting for issues affecting Chaguanas West or national issues, respondents were most likely to give a response of “issues affecting Chaguanas West.”
“However, over one third of the sample indicated that national issues will influence their votes.” Analysing responses by ethnic group, the poll showed the response of “issues affecting Chaguanas West” was stated by 44 per cent Mixed, 40 per cent Indo-Trinidadians and 34 per cent Afro-Trinidadians. Similarly, 39 per cent Mixed, 33 per cent Indo-Trinidadians, and 28 per cent Afro-Trinidadians stated “national issues” in response to this question.
The response of “both” was stated by 20 per cent Indo-Trinidadians, 13 per cent Afro-Trinidadians, and six per cent Mixed. With regards to gender, more men were interested in matters concerning their own constituency than women. “The response of ‘issues affecting Chaguanas West’ was stated by 43 per cent males and 37 per cent females,” the poll said. “Males and females were similarly likely to respond ‘national issues,’ with 34 per cent females and 33 per cent males giving this response.
“Of persons who stated ‘both,’ 21 per cent were female and 17 per cent were male,” the poll said. Assessing responses by age showed only a marginal difference with 37 per cent of the 18 to 30 age group, 43 per cent of those between 31 and 40, 43 per cent from the 41 to 50 age bracket and 39 per cent of those 51 and over indicating “issues in Chaguanas West.”
“The response of ‘national issues’ was stated by 31 per cent of the 18-30, 31 per cent of the 31-40, 33 per cent of the 41-50 and 36 per cent of the 51 and over age groups. “Of persons stating ‘both,’ 27 per cent were 18-30, 18 per cent 31-40, 16 per cent 41-50 and 16 per cent from the 51 and over age group.” Interestingly, more highly educated people were more concerned with issues affecting their constituency rather than national issues.
The answer “issues affecting Chaguanas West” was stated by 43 per cent of those with tertiary education, 39 per cent primary, 39 per cent secondary and 39 per cent technical/vocational educated persons. “The response of ‘national issues’ was stated by 34 per cent primary, 34 per cent secondary, 34 per cent technical/vocational and 29 per cent tertiary educated persons,” the poll said.
“Of persons stating ‘both’, 27 per cent were technical/vocational, 22 per cent were tertiary, 19 per cent were secondary and 17 per cent primary educated.”