The latest voter poll released by Datexco Friday indicates that the support for Colombia’s leading presidential candidates is stabilizing, after the Green Party’s Antanas Mockus shot ahead while Partido de la U’s Juan Manuel Santos‘ popularity plummeted in recent weeks.
In Datexco’s latest poll, Mockus maintains his lead with 37.7% of voters surveyed saying they would vote for the Green Party candidate. Santos comes in second with 25.2%.
These results show little change from Datexco’s poll released a week earlier, in which 38.7% of poll participants said they would vote for Mockus in Colombia’s upcoming presidential elections, while 26.7% said they would choose Santos.
Datexco’s latest poll results differ from CM&’s latest poll released Thursday, in which Mockus and Santos have 38% and 34% of voter support respectively.
However compared to a poll by the same pollster last week, Mockus lost one percentage point while support for Santos remained the same.
The consistency across the week in each pollster’s findings suggest that the two presidential front-runners have consolidated their support bases.
In the latest Datexco poll, 52% of those interviewed said they would vote Mockus, while 30.5% would vote Santos, if the two candidates faced each other in a second round election.
The Conservative Party’s Noemi Sanin continues her downward slide. In the latest Datexco poll she received 6.7%, while in the previous Datexco she received 9.8%. In a Datexco poll at the end of March the former ambassador had 27.1%.
In the latest Datexco poll Polo Democratico’s Gustavo Petro won 4.2% of voter support, Cambio radical’s German Vargas Lleras got 3.1%, and the Liberal Party’s Rafael Pardo 1.4%.
13.8% of those surveyed said they did not know who they would vote for.
Datexco’s latest poll was conducted from May 4 to 6. Around 1,200 Colombians from 37 municipalities around the country were interviewed by telephone.
The race for the 2010 presidency has been characterized by dirty tactics and unforseen developments. Former Bogota mayor Mockus shot into the spotlight several weeks ago and his since received death threats via Facebook and was the target of an alleged assassination plot.
Santos has reshuffled his campaign team, stepped up internet campaigning and employed controversial Venezuela spin doctor J.J. Rendon, in a bid to halt Mockus’ “green wave” of popularity.
Colombia’s presidential elections will be held on May 30. If none of the candidates wins more than 50% of the vote, the two most popular candidates will compete in a second round election.
