Green party leader Elizabeth May waves to supporters from the steps of a VIA Rail train as she arrives for a brief stop shortly before 3 a.m. in Kamloops, B.C., on Monday Sept. 22, 2008. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Greens, NDP on par as voters' second choice: poll

Updated Wed. Sep. 24 2008 12:13 PM ET

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- The New Democrats are facing tough competition from the Green party as a second choice for voters in the Oct. 14 federal election campaign, a new poll suggests.

A Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll taken over the last four nights found one in four respondents, or 25 per cent, would take the NDP or the Green party as their No. 2 choice if they opted to change their vote. The Liberals were the leading second choice at 28 per cent.

At the start of the campaign, 26 per cent of respondents made the NDP their second choice and 22 per cent opted for the Greens.

The survey also identified the Greens as the second choice for 28 per cent of Conservative respondents, 27 per cent of Liberals, 34 per cent of New Democrats and 19 per cent of Bloc supporters polled.

The findings are particularly interesting given that voters have become more rootless in recent years, shifting their loyalties from one party to another, said Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson.

"We can see lots of volatility from week to week, even with such light engagement, because the strength of attachment to any of the parties -- with the possible exception of the Conservatives -- is weaker than it has been in the past," he said in a release.

Across Canada, the poll put the Conservatives at 37 per cent support, with the Liberals holding on to 24 per cent and the NDP in third spot at 16 per cent, one percentage point off previous highs.

The Greens had the support of 12 per cent of respondents and the Bloc Quebecois nine per cent.

"Most voters remain hesitant to vote Conservative, but neither troubled enough at the prospect of a Conservative win nor attracted enough to the idea of a Dion government to coalesce around the Liberals," Anderson said.

The poll surveys 300 people a night in a rolling national sampling and the figures are based on interviews with 1,248 people Saturday through Tuesday.

The results are considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times in 20.

More information on the poll is available from www.harrisdecima.com. Respondents to the poll were asked the following question: "If a federal election were being held tomorrow, who do you think you would be voting for in your area?"

When asked about who they would make their number 2 pick, repondents were asked, "Which party would be your second choice if you decided not to vote for your first choice?"

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