A new poll puts Centro Democratico candidate Ivan Duque on top in Colombia’s 2018 Presidential Election. The poll, with a sample size of 1,285 men and women of legal age, was designed to study voting intentions in Colombia’s forthcoming election. The poll was conducted by Guarumo, a polling firm that specializes in analytics technology as applied to electoral processes.
The prinicipal question in the survey was: “For which of the following candidates would you vote for if the presidential elections were next weekend?”
The results indicate that candidates Iván Duque (17.4%) from Uribe’s Centro Democrático party and Claudia López (15.8%) representing “Alianza Verde” are the favorites to occupy the Presidency of the Colombian Republic. Ex-M19 terrorist Gustavo Petro, who previously polled ahead of the group, came in fourth at 14.2%.
The survey also studied each candidate’s following on social media. In that study, Gustavo Petro provoked the most interaction on social media with almost 2.5 million followers on Twitter. Petro has been an active tweeter, most recently professing solidarity with comedian Daniel Samper, the nephew of the former president Samper, and attacking former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on a daily basis.
Pinochet en su dictadura provocó la muerte de 3.200 civiles asesinados por el Estado. Uribe en ocho años provocó la muerte de 4.000 civiles
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) July 15, 2017
All other candidates showed much less engagement with social media, though Germán Vargas and Claudia López, each with far less followers, continue to disseminate news through social media channels. Ms. López has been promoting her anti-corruption initiatives and gathering signatures.
Última semana firmatón #ConsultaAnticorrupcion mande sus firmas antes de Julio20 gratis por ENVIA a Calle36#28A24Btá https://t.co/6lCFjJuFyc pic.twitter.com/tbHy0HRuUC
— Claudia López Hernández (@ClaudiaLopez) July 16, 2017
Finally, the study probed what issues are most important to Colombian voters. The study revealed that the most important issues were addressing government corruption, improving the economy and creating more employment. Each of these issues favor the current top two candidates in the race.
