High voter turnout could dramatically narrow the gap between the right majority to the center-left next Tuesday, a new poll conducted by Midgam project indicates.
The poll, commissioned by the Israel Leadership Institute in Sderot, shows that right-wing voters who cast a
ballot in 2009 are “not enthusiastic” about choosing right-wing parties
this time around.
The enthusiasm gap is particularly noticable among voters who voted for Likud, Yisrael Beitenu and Shas in 2009 Likud
supporters.
According to the poll, 62 percent of Israelis who did not vote in 2009
said they were motivated by the 2011 social protests to go out to vote on Election Day. Some 70 percent of these voters said they would vote for the
center-left bloc, while only 30 would vote for the right.
Overall, 5 percent of 2009 voters (160,000 voters) have no intention
of casting a ballot this time around, while 24 percent (750K voters) aren’t sure – and
most of them identify with the right.
According to one senior pollster Wednesday, “We may see a turnout that
will dramatically affect the outcome." On the other hand, he said, "one
may assume that many votes will be wasted as voters could turn to niche
parties with no real chance of passing the 2 percent threshold” for
making it into the Knesset.