Site MenuPublic Opinion Survey Following the October 24, 2016, By-election in the Medicine Hat–Cardston–Warner Riding
Fairness
This section discusses issues regarding voters' perception of the fairness of the by-election of October 24, 2016.
Election Widely Deemed to Have Been Run Fairly
Most respondents who were aware of the by-election felt that it was run fairly. Almost three quarters (73%) felt that Elections Canada ran the by-election very fairly, with a further 16% saying somewhat fairly. Relatively few (4%) felt that Elections Canada ran the by-election unfairly.
Fairness of By-election
Text description of "Fairness of By-election"
The likelihood of thinking that Elections Canada ran the election very fairly increased with age (from 53% among 18 to 24 year olds to 81% among those aged 55 and over) and education (from 68% among those with a high school education or less to 78% among university graduates).
Most Have Trust in Accuracy of Election Results
Overall, surveyed electors who were aware of the by-election had trust in the accuracy of the results. Seven in 10 rated their level of trust in the accuracy of the results as very high. An additional 21% said their level of trust was somewhat high. Conversely, a few respondents described their level of trust as somewhat low (5%) or very low (1%).
The likelihood of saying they have a high level of trust in the accuracy of the election results in their riding was higher among electors aged 35 and older (77% of 35- to 54-year-olds and 74% of those aged 55 and older) than electors under 25 (46%). In addition, trust increased with education–university-educated electors (78%) were the most likely to say they place a very high level of trust in the accuracy of the election results and electors with high school or less (62%) were the least likely to feel this way.