YEREVAN. – Armenia’s voters are showing great interest in the forthcoming presidential vote. At this phase of the election campaign, a 66 percent voter turnout is expected on election day. Gallup Organization representative, Dr. Rasa Ališauskienė informed this during a press conference on Saturday. 

Third public survey of the “Mood of Armenia’s Voters Ahead of Presidential Elections: 2013” Project was conducted, from January 25 to February 2, in all regions of the country. A total of 1,017 eligible voters took part in this poll. But since the field work of the poll had ended on February 2, the January 31 assassination attempt against one of the presidential candidates did not have a significant impact on the survey results.    

Forty-nine percent of the respondents said they definitely will vote; this indicator is a rise from the previous survey, when 39 percent had said they definitely will cast their ballots. Thirty-five percent, on the other hand, said they “probably will vote.” 

But Ališauskienė noted that it is necessary to factor in the fact that the survey was conducted solely with those citizens of Armenia that are in the country, whereas the country’s electoral list also includes those citizens that are abroad.

“In countries such as Armenia where there is a high rate of emigration, the last voter turnout is usually lower than the figures that are shown by the nationwide surveys,” she added.    

Gallup’s fourth opinion poll is slated for election day on February 18, provided that the voting day is not postponed.