In the public opinion poll of 4,570 Iraqis conducted by the government-funded National Media Center, 41 percent of respondents said they preferred secular candidates, while 31 percent said they would support candidates supported by religious parties.
The poll was conducted earlier this month among voters in the 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces where elections will be held, the National Media Center said. The respondents were randomly selected from a range of faiths and ethnic groups, the center said, but it did not provide a margin of error or other details on how the poll was done.
Nonetheless, the poll seems to corroborate other anecdotal evidence that the Iraqi electorate has grown tired of the influence exerted by religious political organizations since the last provincial and parliamentary elections four years ago. The results of unscientific voter surveys by The New York Times of 100 people in the southern province of Basra and 65 people in Mosul conducted earlier this month showed similar results.
Many voters have said they blame a great deal of the sectarian violence that has engulfed the country during much of the past three years on religious-based political parties.
A government-sponsored poll released Monday found that nearly three of four Iraqis said they intend to vote in the upcoming provincial elections, and a plurality said they plan to cast ballots for secular candidates, a choice that could lead to a significant political shift in a nation now dominated by religious-based parties.
In the public opinion poll of 4,570 Iraqis conducted by the government-funded National Media Center, 41 percent of respondents said they preferred secular candidates, while 31 percent said they would support candidates supported by religious parties.
The poll was conducted earlier this month among voters in the 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces where elections will be held, the National Media Center said. The respondents were randomly selected from a range of faiths and ethnic groups, the center said, but it did not provide a margin of error or other details on how the poll was done.
Nonetheless, the poll seems to corroborate other anecdotal evidence that the Iraqi electorate has grown tired of the influence exerted by religious political organizations since the last provincial and parliamentary elections four years ago. The results of unscientific voter surveys by The New York Times of 100 people in the southern province of Basra and 65 people in Mosul conducted earlier this month showed similar results.
Many voters have said they blame a great deal of the sectarian violence that has engulfed the country during much of the past three years on religious-based political parties.
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