Russian Voters Most Familiar With Election Programs of Putin, Zhirinovsky - Poll

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian voters seem to have the highest awareness of the election programs of incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin and nominee of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky, director general of Russian Public Opinion Research Center VTsIOM, Valery Fedorov, said Monday.

As part of the survey conducted between November 2017 and March 2018 the interviewees were asked "Are you familiar with the election programs of following candidates or not?" with regard to all the candidates. According to VTsIOM, Putin's program has topped the list of most well-known programs since the start of the study in November.

"In December, already 45 percent were familiar [with Putin's program], in January — 54 percent, in February — 61 percent, and the survey in early March showed that 68 percent of respondents were familiar with Vladimir Putin's election campaign," Fedorov said.

According to the poll, Zhirinovsky's election program is second most well-known among Russian voters.

"Vladimir Zhirinovsky is second in terms of election program awareness… In November, 21 percent of respondents [were familiar with his program], in December — 25 percent, in January — 28 percent, in February — 38 percent, in March — 50 percent," Fedorov said.

With regard to program of Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, the pollster has relevant information only for the period from January to March as in November and December voters were asked about the program of Gennady Zyuganov, who was expected to become the party's nominee. Grudinin's program was known only by 11 percent of respondents in January, while by early March, 31 percent of interviewees had familiarized themselves with it.

As of early March, 32 percent of respondents were familiar with the election program of Civil Initiative party's candidate Ksenia Sobchak, 27 percent with Yabloko party's nominee Grigory Yavlinsky's proposals, 17 percent with plans of candidate Boris Titov, who is the presidential commissioner for entrepreneurs’ rights. Meanwhile, programs of Sergey Baburin from the All-People's Union party and Communists of Russia party's nominee Maxim Suraykin turned out to be least known by voters, with 15 and 14 percent of voters respectively being familiar with them.

The poll was conducted among the residents aged over 18 of 80 Russian regions, 500 cities and urban-type settlements, and about 100 villages via telephone interviews. In 2017, the VTsIOM interviewed 600 respondent per day, whereas this year, 1,000 respondents were surveyed on a daily basis. The statistical error for 1,800 people is no more than 2.5 percent, while the statistical error for 3,000 respondents does not exceed 1.8 percent. The survey was conducted by VTsIOM on its own initiative with its own funds.

READ MORE: Over 90% Russians Informed About March 18 Presidential Election – Poll

The Russian presidential election is scheduled for Sunday, while the campaign started on December 18. Media campaigning, which is currently ongoing, is set to end one day prior to the election.