TOP LINE SUMMARY

  • Results are based on interviews with 4,104members of the eligible electorate aged 18+. Interviews are distributed as follows:
  • Scotland: 1,000
  • Wales: 750
  • London: 1,000
  • Total England (excluding London): 1,354 comprising:
  • English areas holding council elections only: 793
  • English areas holding Mayoral referendums only: 74
  • English areas holding both: 487
  • Interviews were carried out by telephonebetween 4th – 22nd May 2012
  • A representative sample was interviewed in each type of area, with quotas set by voting/not voting, age, gender and local authority area.
  • The data has been weighted by election holding areas, age, gender, social class andwork status.
  • Where results do not sum to 100%, this may be due to multiple responses, computer rounding or the exclusion of don’t knows/not stated.
  • Results are based on numbers as shown at the head of each question answer set.
  • Based on the full sample of 4,104 and assuming a 95% confidence interval, data is assumed to be correct to within +/-1.5%.
  • An asterisk (*) represents a value of less than one half or one percent, but not zero.
  • Study undertaken by ICM on behalf of the Electoral Commission.

Hello, I am telephoning on behalf of ICM, the independent social research organisation. We are conducting a research project which requires us to talk to a representative sample of people throughout the country on issues that affect all people. We have selected your telephone number purely at random and would greatly appreciate your help for a few minutes to answer some simple questions.

IF RESPONDENT SOUNDS LIKE THEY WANT TO REFUSE SAY…..

For the purposes of our research project it is most important that we talk to a representative cross section of all people. So, your views are really important to us and the interview will only take a few minutes of your time.

IF RESPONDENT STILL SOUNDS LIKE THEY WANT TO REFUSE SAY….

If you cannot spare the time at the moment I would really appreciate it if we could call you back at your own convenience over the next few days. As I say your own views are very important to us.

QS1Can I start by checking your postcode? CHECK AGAINST PRE-CODED LIST

IF: Don’t know / CLOSE

QS2And can I confirm, what is the name of your local authority or council? CHECK AGAINST PRE-CODED LIST. PROMPT WITH COUNCIL NAMES WITHIN AREA IF NECESSARY.

IF: Don’t know / CLOSE

REgistration, turnout and voting

ask all

Q1As far as you know, is your name on the electoral register, that is, the official list of people who can vote, either where you are living now or somewhere else?

Base:4104
Yes – where living now / 93%
Yes – somewhere else/another address / 2%
No / 4%
Don’t know / 2%

Q2How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the procedure for getting your name on the list of those people who are registered to vote? Are you……READ OUT

Base:4104
Very satisfied / 52%
Fairly satisfied / 32%
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / 10%
Fairly dissatisfied / 1%
Very dissatisfied / 1%
Don’t know / 4%

Q3As you may know, on Thursday May 3rd there were/was …CATI: INSERT AS APPROPRIATE: English local council elections / Scottish local council elections / Welsh local council elections / London Mayor and Assembly elections / Mayoral elections in Salford and Liverpool and a city wide Mayoral referendum in ….CATI: City……. Many people have told us they didn’t manage to vote on 3rd May. How about you – did you manage to vote in the……READ OUT AS APPROPRIATE

BASE 4104 / Yes / No
OVERALL / 50% / 50%
ENGLISH ELECTION AREAS ONLY: English local council elections / 48% / 52%
WALES ONLY: Welsh local council elections / 49% / 51%
SCOTLAND ONLY: Scottish local council elections / 54% / 46%
LONDON ONLY: London Mayor and Assembly elections / 55% / 45%
SALFORD CITY COUNCIL ONLY: Salford Mayoral Election / 32% / 68%
LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL ONLY: Liverpool Mayoral Election / 64% / 36%
SPECIFIC LOCAL AUTHORITIES ONLY*:…CATI: XXXX Mayoral referendum / 44% / 56%

*specific local authorities holding referendums: location eligibility taken from sample file

Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Doncaster, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield, Wakefield,

if non-voter (no) in all eligible elections/referedum at q3, ask:

Q4People had many reasons for not voting in the….elections/referendum…. Why did you not vote in the ..Q3 elections/referendum on 3rd May? DO NOT PROMPT

BASE: 2037
Circumstances / 53%
I really intended to vote but circumstances on the day prevented me / 5%
I was away on 3rd May/voting day / 7%
I forgot / 9%
Lack of time/too busy/I was busy at work / 25%
I couldn’t get to the polling station/it was inconvenient / 4%
Medical/health reasons / 6%
Poor weather / *%
Administration / 11%
I wasn’t registered / 4%
Admin reason / *%
I didn’t receive a polling card / 4%
I didn’t receive a postal vote/it arrived too late / 1%
I didn’t know where my polling station was / 1%
Elections/referendum not important / 9%
The elections (unspecified) weren’t important / *%
Local council elections aren’t important / 1%
The Mayoral referendum is not important/won’t change anything / 1%
There was no point in voting because the local council can’t do very much/can’t change anything/has no power / 5%
There was no point in voting because the Mayor can’t do very much/can’t change anything/has no power / 2%
There was no point in voting because the London Assembly can’t do very much/can’t change anything/has no power / 2%
Disinterested/no point / 13%
I couldn’t be bothered / 6%
I’m just not interested in politics / 4%
There was no point in voting because it was obvious who would win/my vote wouldn’t have made a difference to the outcome / 3%
Unopposed candidate / *%
Referendum choices / 3%
I didn’t agree with either of the options on offer / 1%
I didn’t like the campaigners/campaigns weren’t inspiring / 2%
Parties/candidates / 7%
There was no point in voting because all the parties are the same / 2%
I didn’t like the candidates/parties/they didn’t represent my views / 3%
You just can’t trust politicians to keep their promises / 3%
No information/indecision/complicated / 7%
I didn’t get any information / 3%
I didn’t know enough about the different options / 2%
I couldn’t decide which way to vote / 1%
I didn’t know there was a referendum / 1%
Miscellaneous / 6%
I don’t vote / 3%
Religious reasons / *%
Other / 3%
None of these/no reason / 1%
Don’t know / *%

IF VOTED, aSK:

Q5Did you vote on 3rd May…..MULTICODE OK

Base: 2067
In person at a polling station / 72%
By post / 28%
By proxy IF NECESSARY SAY: (getting someone else to vote on your behalf) / 1%
Other / *%
Don’t know/can’t remember / *%

Q6People have many reasons for voting in elections and referendums. Why did you vote on Thursday 3rd May? What else?

BASE: 2067
Civic responsibility reasons / 65%
It is important to vote/It is my civic duty/everyone should vote/It is my right to vote / 49%
I always vote / 18%
People fought to win the right to vote for me/others / 6%
To support my local community / *%
To express my view / 36%
I wanted to have a say / 26%
If people don’t vote then you have no right to complain/have an opinion / 9%
Concerned about local issues / 4%
Because an important issue was at stake / 1%
To help create a change / 16%
To change the voting system / 2%
To get a change / 10%
Not happy with the government/to send a message to the government/local council / 7%
To help keep the status quo / 5%
To keep the voting system / 1%
Like/pleased with the government / 2%
I like/have faith in the person I voted for / 2%
Tactical reasons / 4%
To defeat/stop the other side from winning / 4%
Other reasons / 3%
I was urged/persuaded to vote by a family member/friend / 1%
Because I was sent a ballot paper in the post / *%
Family/friend was standing / *%
Other specify / 2%
None of these / no reason / 1%
Don’t know / 1%

ASK ALL IN AREAS HOLDING …..elections/referendum

Q7How much, if anything, did you feel you knew about what ….ELECTION: ASK AS APPROPRIATE….….on 3rd May was about? Would you say you knew…READ OUT

Local council
Election
Base: 3,097 / London / Salford / Liverpool Mayoral election
Base:1007 / ….xx…City Mayoral referendum
Base: 488
A great deal / 10% / 16% / 7%
A fair amount / 42% / 56% / 27%
Not very much / 31% / 21% / 35%
Nothing at all / 16% / 7% / 31%
Don’t know / *% / *% / *%

IF mayorAL REFERENDUM AREA, ASK:

Q8Thinking back to before May 3rd, did you see or hear any advertising, publicity or other information about the mayoral referendum? By this, we mean advertising, publicity, or other information about the referendum itself and what you needed to do, rather than information from campaigners to vote ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ or any coverage about the result of the referendum. DO NOT PROMPT. PROBE FOR WHERE SEEN

Base: 488
No / 64%
Yes: Where seen? / 36%
Television programme or interview / 10%
Television advertising / 4%
Radio programme or interview / 2%
Radio advertising / 1%
Newspaper article / 8%
Newspaper advertising / 4%
Leaflet or flyer from your local council / 10%
Leaflet or flyer from a political party / 7%
Leaflet or flyer from another source / 1%
Lecture or talk / *%
People talking about it / 1%
Posters or billboards / 4%
Local council offices / *%
/ -
Local council website / 1%
Advertising on internet websites / *%
Searched online/on the internet (no details) / 1%
The Electoral Commission website / -
On another specific website / 1%
University/college student union / -
Other specify / 2%
None of these / no reason / -
Don’t know / 1%

ASK ALL in appropriate areas

Q9To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? READ OUT. CODE ONE FOR EACH

Agree strongly / Tend to agree / Neither / Tend to disagree / Disagree strongly / DK
LOCAL COUNCIL AEAS ONLY:
I had enough information to be able to make an informed decision on how to vote in the English/Scottish/Welsh local council elections
BASE: 3097 / 30% / 33% / 11% / 10% / 16% / 1%
LONDON ONLY: I had enough information to be able to make an informed decision on how to vote in the London Mayor and Assembly elections
BASE: 941 / 40% / 36% / 8% / 8% / 7% / 1%
MAYORAL REFERENDUM AREAS:
I had enough information to be able to make an informed decision on whether to vote yes or no in the referendum
BASE: 488 / 20% / 23% / 10% / 17% / 29% / 1%
MAYORAL REFERENDUM AREAS:
I knew what would happen as a result of a yes or a no vote at the mayoral referendum
BASE: 488 / 29% / 24% / 10% / 14% / 20% / 3%

 ask all

Q10Generally speaking, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the procedure for voting in elections (IF MAYORAL REFERENDUM AREA: and referendums) in Great Britain? Are you…?

Base: 4104
Very satisfied / 36%
Fairly satisfied / 44%
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / 10%
Fairly dissatisfied / 5%
Very dissatisfied / 4%
Don’t know / 1%

IF FAIRLY/VERY DISSATISFIED AT Q10, ASK:

Q11Why do you say you were dissatisfied with the procedure for voting in elections (IF MAYORAL REFERENDUM AREA: and referendums)? WRITE IN

BASE: 392
Not enough information/media coverage 20%
The system is not fair 7%
Don’t trust them/don’t fulfil their promises 7%
Voting process should be available online 7%
Voting process should be available by email 7%
Voting system should be more secure 6%
People didn’t understand the elections 4%
Everyone should vote/compulsory 4%
Not enough polling stations to choose from 4%
Disagree with FPTP 4%
More than one together confusing/questions ambiguous 4%
Politicians don’t make themselves known 3%
Want PR 3%
Voting should be spread over a few days 3%
Need more options 3%
Many people didn’t get to vote/register 2%
Smaller parties no chance 2%
Others 2% or less (36% total)
Don’t know 2%

ASK ALL

Q12How confident, if at all, are you that the …….ASK AS APPROPRIATE: ELECTION/REFERENDUM……was/were well run on 3rd May? Are you…READ OUT

Base: 4014
Very confident / 31%
Fairly confident / 43%
Not very confident / 7%
Not at all confident / 5%
Don’t know / 13%

Q13Why do you say that you are…Q12 confident/not confident…..that the….. ASK AS APPROPRIATE: election/referendum was well run? WRITE IN

BASE: 3570
Well organised 28%
Well publicised 12%
Voting system fair 12%
Tried and tested 11%
No negative feedback 6%
Lack of information 6%
Quick easy voting 5%
Trust the staff 4%
Accessible polling stations 4%
Good staff attitude 3%
Personal involvement 2%
Professionally conducted 2%
Received polling card ballot papers in good time 2%
Well canvassed 2%
Others 28% (all 1% or less)
None 2%
Don’t know 8%

polling stations

ASK ALL

Q14From what you have seen or heard or experienced, do you think that voting at the polling station / (SCOTLAND: polling place) on 3rd May was…READ OUT

BASE: 4104
Very convenient / 45%
Fairly convenient / 27%
Neither convenient nor inconvenient / 10%
Fairly inconvenient / 5%
Very inconvenient / 4%
Don’t know / 10%

IF POLLING STATION VOTER AT Q5 (= 1), ASK:

Q15Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with the process of voting at a polling station/place? Would you say…..READ OUT

BASE: 1486
Very satisfied / 74%
Fairly satisfied / 23%
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / 1%
Fairly dissatisfied / 1%
Very dissatisfied / 1%
Don’t know / *%

Q16Once you arrived at your polling station/place, how easy or difficult was it for you to get inside to vote?

BASE: 1486
Very easy / 91%
Fairly easy / 8%
Neither easy nor difficult / *%
Fairly difficult / *%
Very difficult / *%
Don’t know / -

Q17Thinking back to when you went to vote at the polling station/place, how useful, if at all, was the help or support available from polling station/place staff on how to vote? Was it…READ OUT

BASE: 1486
Very useful / 53%
Fairly useful / 14%
Not very useful / 1%
Not at all useful / 1%
Didn’t use them/need them / 30%
Don’t know / 1%

Q18And again thinking back to when you went to vote at the polling station/place, how useful, if at all, were any written instructions on how to vote, such as a poster on display in the polling booth or guidance on the ballot paper(s)? Were they….READ OUT

BASE: 1486
Very useful / 46%
Fairly useful / 21%
Not very useful / 3%
Not at all useful / 1%
Didn’t use them/need them / 29%
Don’t know / *%

Q19Thinking back to the atmosphere when you voted in the polling station/place, please say whether you agree or disagree with the following?

Agree strongly / Tend to agree / Neither / Tend to disagree / Disagree strongly / DK
It was chaotic
BASE: 1486 / 2% / 1% / 1% / 7% / 88% / 1%
It was well ordered
BASE: 1486 / 86% / 12% / 1% / 1% / 1% / *%
It was intimidating
BASE: 1486 / 2% / 2% / 1% / 9% / 84% / 2%
It was safe
BASE: 1486 / 91% / 7% / 1% / *% / 1% / *%
It took too long to vote
BASE: 1486 / 2% / 1% / 1% / 9% / 87% / *%
It was well run by staff
BASE: 1486 / 86% / 11% / 1% / 1% / *% / *%
MULTI-ELECTION AREAS ONLY INCLUDING LONDON: It was confusing which ballot paper to use
BASE: 564 / 4% / 5% / 2% / 14% / 74% / 1%

voting by post

ASK ALL

Q20From what you have seen, heard or experienced, do you think that voting by post for the 3rd May election (IF APPROPRIATE: and referendum) was…READ OUT

BASE: 4104
Very convenient / 36%
Fairly convenient / 20%
Neither convenient nor inconvenient / 17%
Fairly inconvenient / 4%
Very inconvenient / 3%
Don’t know / 20%

ASK ALL POSTAL VOTERS (Q5 = 2)

Q21Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with the process of voting by post? Would you say………..READ OUT

BASE: 581
Very satisfied / 83%
Fairly satisfied / 14%
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / 1%
Fairly dissatisfied / 1%
Very dissatisfied / 1%
Don’t know / *%

Q22How easy or difficult was it to understand what you had to do in order to complete and return your postal vote(s)? Would you say….READ OUT

BASE: 581
Very easy / 75%
Fairly easy / 21%
Neither easy nor difficult / 1%
Fairly difficult / 2%
Very difficult / 1%
Don’t know / *%

Q23Thinking back to when you voted by post, how useful, if at all, were any written instructions on how to vote and return your vote, such as guidance on the ballot paper? Were they…..READ OUT

BASE:
Very useful / 73%
Fairly useful / 23%
Not very useful / 1%
Not at all useful / 1%
Don’t know / 1%

BALLOT papers

ASK ALL VOTERS

Q24Some people said it was difficult to fill in the ballot paper(s) when voting in the 3rd May elections (IF APPLICABLE: and referendum). How easy or difficult did you find it to fill in the ballot paper(s) for the ….ASK FOR EACH Q3 ELECTION/REFERENDUM VOTED IN (CATI: ALWAYS ASK FOR REFERENDUM FIRST AT THIS QUESTION)……Was it…..

IF NECESSARY: By ‘fill in’ we mean place your vote on the form rather than decide which way to vote.

Very easy / Fairly easy / Neither / Fairly difficult / Very difficult / DK
ENGLISH ELECTION AREAS ONLY: English local council elections
BASE: 1031 / 86% / 11% / 2% / *% / *% / *%
WALES ONLY: Welsh local council elections / 84% / 14% / 2% / *% / 1% / *%
SCOTLAND ONLY: Scottish local council elections / 75% / 17% / 4% / 3% / 1% / *%
SPECIFIC LOCAL AUTHORITIES ONLY*:…CATI: XXXX Mayoral referendum
LONDON MAYORAL AND ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS ONLY: London mayoral and assembly elections (IF NECESSARY SAY: Voters had three ballot papers to fill in on May 3rd. One for the Mayor of London election and two for the London Assembly election)
BASE: 514. / 76% / 19% / 1% / 2% / 1% / 1%

FOR EACH ‘DIFFICULT’ AT Q24, ASK:

Q25Why do you think it was difficult to fill in the ……Q24……ballot paper? WRITE IN

INSIGNIFICANT BASES TO SMALL TO REPORT

ask all voters who voted in more than one electoral event at q3 (excluding london)

Q26You said you voted in the referendum whether to have a City Mayor and the ….Q3 election….. How easy or difficult did you find it to fill in more than one ballot paper on the same day? Was it…..IF NECESSARY: By ‘fill in’ we mean place your vote on the form rather than decide which way to vote.

BASE: 257
Very easy / 76%
Fairly easy / 17%
Neither easy nor difficult / 3%
Fairly difficult / 1%
Very difficult / -
Don’t know / 3%

ask voters in scotland (yes at Q3 for scottish council elections)

Q27How easy or difficult was it to find the candidates you wanted to vote for on the local election ballot paper? Was it…..IF NECESSARY: By ‘fill in’ we mean place your vote choice or choices on the form rather than decide which way to vote.

BASE: 355
Very easy / 78%
Fairly easy / 18%
Neither easy nor difficult / 2%
Fairly difficult / 2%
Very difficult / 1%
Don’t know / -

ask voters in london (yes at q3 for london mayor and assembly elections)

Q28a The London elections on 3rd May used more than one voting system – one for the London Mayor election and another for the London Assembly election. How confusing or otherwise did you find this? Would you say…READ OUT. CODE ONE

BASE: 514
Very confusing / 4%
Fairly confusing / 15%
Not very confusing / 22%
Not at all confusing / 59%
Don’t know / 1%

ASK ALL IN LONDON AND SCOTLAND

Q28bAs you may be aware, electronic machines counted all the votes cast in the: INSERT AS APPROPRIATE….London Mayor and Assembly elections / Scottish Council elections….. Some people have suggested that electronic machines should be used to count the votes cast in all elections. In your opinion, do you think using electronic machines to count votes makes the count….READ OUT

BASE: 1603
More accurate / 42%
Less accurate / 10%
Makes no difference / 36%
Don’t know / 12%

Q28cDo you think the use of electronic machines to count the votes cast in all elections would give you more confidence in the voting process, less confidence, or would it make no difference?