MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Swing voters to prove decisive in Uruguayan elections, poll finds

Only 5% of FA voters might not pick Yamandú Orsi while all the other candidates can not be so sure about their constituencies until the last minute

According to a Cifra survey released this weekend in Montevideo, Uruguay has 11% of swing voters who could end up pivotal in Oct. 27's presidential elections. Hence, political parties should focus on winning them over, the pollsters underlined. Cifra Director Mariana Pomiés underlined that this number could tip the scale at the end of the day.

A Cifra study on voting intention conducted in late September found that 44% of the voters would support the opposition Broad Front (Frente Amplio - FA, of former Presidents Pepe Mujica and Tabaré Vázquez) while 41% support would remain loyal to the ruling Multicolor coalition (24% of the National Party of President Luis Lacalle Pou, 14% Colorado Party of former President Julio María Sanguinetti, 2% Cabildo Abierto of Senator and retired General Guido Manini Ríos, and 1% of Pablo Mieres' Independent Party).

Another 1% endorse Sovereign Identity (Identidad Soberana) of controversial lawyer Gustavo Salle Lorier, while another 1% would be split among other minor parties. Of this group, 11% remain undecided and 2% prefer to vote blank.

Cifra's study also detected a parallelism between education and electoral indecision. Of Those who only completed primary education, 21% do not know who to vote for. This number falls to 11% among those with high-school education and 8% among those with college degrees.

On the other hand, only 3% of those who identify with the left are undecided. However, 24% of those who define themselves as centrist and 10% of those who consider themselves right-wing have not yet made up their minds, Cifra noted.

Regarding allegiances, only 5% of FA 2019 voters are undecided this time around, while 10% of those who voted for the National Party and 7% of those who chose the Colorado Party are still weighing their options. Undecidedness rose among those who voted for other coalition parties (37%) in 2019.

Around 29% of FA voters admitted they could change their minds ahead of Oct. 27 while 71% were sure. In the case of the National Party, 32% of its voters could reconsider their decision, while 68% remain firm. And 58% of the Colorado Party supporters would stand by their choice no matter what while 42% were still open to other alternatives.