Poll: Older generations and less educated more likely to support Sisi

In an opinion poll conducted by the Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research (Baseera), three quarters of those polled said they intend to vote for Sisi in the upcoming elections, while two percent stated that they intend to vote for Nasserist politician Hamdeen Sabbahi. Fifteen percent said they were undecided, down from almost 40 percent at the end of March.

The opinion poll, which was conducted on May 10 and 11, in collaboration with the TV show “Happening in Egypt,” asked 2,000 citizens aged 18 or over, across all governorates, on whether they will participate in elections and who they would vote for if the poll were held tomorrow.

One of Baseera’s main findings is that Sisi’s popularity is greater among those with less than intermediate education and decreases among those with higher education. Their poll conducted at the end of April, however, did not find that educational level affected the likelihood of supporting Sisi’s presidential bid.

Baseera also suggests that generation is a key variable, with those over 50 being more likely to support Sisi. Additionally, while one percent of those aged 50 or above support Sabbahi, this figure rises to four percent for the young.

Results showed that 87 percent of Egyptians intend to vote, while 9 percent said they have no intention to participate and 4 percent having yet to decide. About a quarter of those who do not intend to vote said they were not convinced by any of the candidates, while another fifth said they did not feel that their votes would make a difference.

Baseera, which was established in April 2012, describes itself as an independent nonpartisan private entity for evidence based public-opinion research.