KRALENDIJK – With less than a month to go, more than one third of the voters on Bonaire do not yet know which party they will vote for. This is evident from research conducted by ABC Online Media in collaboration with consultancy firm Linkels & Partners.

The large group of undecided voters is clearly evident in more than 100 face-to-face surveys conducted by interviewers of Linkels & Partners in recent days. No less than 35.7% of those questioned say they are still unsure about which party they will vote for.

Of the established parties, MPB in particular suffers from doubters. A relatively large number of respondents who indicated that they voted for the blue party in 2019 doubt whether they will do so again this year. On the other hand, they don’t rule it out, either.

Surveys

The surveys were conducted in addition to an Online Poll executed on the news sites of ABC Online Media, which was filled out by more than 500 respondents. Most voters who voted for the UPB or for the Democratic Party in 201, indicate that they will do so again on March 15, 2023. 

The Democratic Party emerges as the favorite party in both online poll and face-to-face interviews.  However, the differences with the UPB and the M21 in the personal interviews are smaller than us the case in the Online Poll. UPB and M21 in particular seem to have been underrepresented in the online poll. Both parties come out significantly stronger from the face-to-face surveys than from the Poll.

Caution

Psychologist Harald Linkels, who organized both the Poll and the survey, reiterates that caution is advised when interpreting the results of the study. “With the online Poll, the chance of manipulation is bigger, and it is not possible to check who completes it. We do note, however, that people in the Online Poll are more open when it comes to motivating their choice or preference. Respondents in the face-to-face interviews are more reluctant in expressing their preferences, and their motivation is more limited”. According to Linkels, the strong point of the face-to-face interviews is the fact that respondents were chosen completely at random, making the results more reliable than those of the Online Poll. Just over 100 respondents who were interviewed in various public place on the island, however, is however a relatively small sample of the total population of eligible voters.

Preference

Voting motivation is very diverse, but not always based on very objective grounds. “My daughter is on the list, that’s why I’m voting MPB,” says a female respondent to the interviewer. Another respondent indicates that his family has ‘always voted UPB’ and will do so again in the upcoming elections.

What is also striking, is that the four more established parties are associated with different traits. The PDB in particular is expected to change the course of the Local Government. “Clark (Abraham, party leader PDB, ed.) knows what the feelings are among the population” say many respondents. Similar sounds are heard as motivation to vote for the party M21 with party leader Daisy Coffie. “She says things that others don’t say” and “She strives for change”.

Among UPB voters, appreciation can be heard for the work of James Kroon. “Kroon has a lot of experience”, is a frequently heard motivation for a vote for the UPB. Many UPB voters also believe that James Kroon has fulfilled his election promises, often without substantiating this further. A few respondents comment that roads have been resurfaced in the past Government term.

Business minded

The MPB and especially party leader Hennyson Thielman are associated as being open for business with an entrepreneurial attitude. “He wants to do business,” says one respondent. Others note that Thielman is young and dynamic. ‘Continuity of policy’ is another frequently heard motivation to vote for the MPB again.

The smaller parties, the List Suzy Thodé and 1 Union pa Pueblo are adding very little to the mix. The List Suzy Thodé list is not mentioned once as a party for which respondents are considering voting. This is true for both the Online Poll and the face-to-face surveys. In the Online Poll, a few mention the 1 Union pa Pueblo, but in the offline surveys the party is not mentioned once as the party of choice. In total, less than 1% of all respondents indicate that they will vote for the 1 Union pa Pueblo, while this is 0 for the List Suzy Thodé.