Today, May 23, 2017 in Monrovia, Liberia Naymote has officially launched a survey report on Citizens Attitudes Towards Current Lawmakers at the institution head office.
In April and May 2017, the Naymote conducted a public opinion poll on citizens’ perception of the current lawmakers in Liberia. The survey targeted 2,860 registered voters, 1,640 males (57%) and 1,220 (43) females in 20 electoral districts from nine of the fifteen counties in Liberia including Montserrado, Bong, Margibi, Lofa, Nimba, Bomi, Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, and Grand Gedeh Counties. The survey targeted registered voters.
The institution Executive Director who presented the survey report mentioned that the objective of the poll was to understand the perception of voters about their lawmakers and issues they want addressed by those seeking public offices as well as design a civic engagement program.
He said that with five months to the presidential and legislative elections, the perception of citizens of members of the national legislature is negative. 65% of the respondents said they are disappointed with the current lawmakers relating to their representational function. Overall, 28% of respondents say they have a favorable opinion of lawmakers and 7% said they do not know.
Mr. Jarwolo also mentioned that 66% of respondents said they would vote during the October 10, 2017 while 34% are undecided with majority of who are women. At the security level, 59% of the respondents said they are satisfied with the current security environment as the country goes to elections and 3% said they are unsure. With respect to their development needs, 80% of respondents identified education, the economy and health as the most important issues they care about and want political parties or representative candidates to address when they are elected.
The poll was conducted using a “phone-bank” system of over 9,235 names and contact details of registered voter in the 73 electoral districts in Liberia. The 2,680 respondents 1,640 males and 1,220 females were randomly selected. Eight (8) enumerators were trained in random sampling methodology to conduct the survey.
He said that the 2011 elections saw a low turnout in the runoff election and the retention rating of lawmakers was 34% meaning that the majority of the representatives who contested for re-election were rejected at the polls by the voters. Similarly, of the thirteen Senators who ran in the 2014 Special Senatorial election, only two were re-elected.
With this survey findings revealing that 65% of registered voters are dissatisfied with the representational performance of the current lawmakers, they need to do more work to convince the voters that they desire to be re-elected.
Naymote Partners for Democratic Development is a good governance and research institution working to promote democracy, transparency, and participatory governance in Liberia. The institution since 2001 has initiated and implemented several programs to foster political accountability, enhancing dialogue between lawmakers with constituents, thereby making elected leaders more accessible and accountable to their people.
Click link to download/read the entire survey report..Naymote Mobile Phone Survey Report
