VCIOM: 81% of respondents to vote for Putin in election
MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Of the 67% of respondents surveyed by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) who said they firmly intend to vote in the coming presidential election, over 80% said they are inclined to vote for Vladimir Putin, Valery Fyodorov, the head of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), said.
"We are presenting another rating, a rating of candidates taken from the part of the voters who said they will definitely vote. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said that. We took that 67% as 100% and asked them who they will vote for," Fyodorov said at a press conference in Moscow on Monday.
The poll showed that the mobilized electorate "gives the palm of victory to Vladimir Putin; 81.1% intend to vote for him," Fyodorov said.
Putin is followed by Pavel Grudinin, with 7.6%, and Vladimir Zhirinovsky, with 4.2%, Fyodorov said.
"Kseniya Sobchak has 0.7% of the vote, Grigory Yavlinsky has 0.6%, and Boris Titov has 0.3%," Fyodorov said.
The respondents were also asked whether a specific candidate is capable of ensuring stability in the country if he wins the elections, Fyodorov said.
"We have asked this question for three months; we asked it in November, December, and January, and the picture is generally stable. Eighty-eight percent of respondents believe that Vladimir Putin will likely be able to ensure stability in our country. As to Vladimir Zhirinovsky, 13% believe he can ensure stability. Eleven percent believe that Pavel Grudinin can do so, two to five percent believe Titov , Yavlinsky, and Sobchak can," he said.
Fyodorov also said that respondents were also asked about the candidates' ability to ensure the country's development. "This is interesting: 88% of the respondents believe that Vladimir Putin can ensure not only stability but also development," Fyodorov said.