REFERENDUM DETAILS:MORE THAN 1.8 million people voted on the Lisbon Treaty last Friday, compared with 1.6 million in the previous referendum.
Of a total electorate of just over three million, the number of votes cast on this occasion was 1,816,098, as against 1,621,037 – an increase of 195,061. This meant 58 per cent of the electorate voted this time, compared to 53.13 per cent in June 2008.
Turnout for the first referendum on the Nice treaty in June 2001 was a mere 34.8 per cent. When the treaty was put to the electorate for a second time in October 2002, the turnout went up to 49.5 per cent.
A Fine Gael exit poll of 1,000 voters at 33 polling stations throughout the State predicted a Yes victory by 65 per cent to 35 per cent on this occasion.
The poll, carried out by some 20 party activists, found 17 per cent of those who voted had not cast their ballot in last year’s referendum. A majority of this group supported the treaty by 68 per cent to 32 per cent this time.
The poll also found that, among those who voted No on the last occasion, 39 per cent changed their mind and voted Yes this time.
The results also showed almost 16 per cent who voted No last year stayed at home on Friday. Four per cent of those who voted Yes last year switched to the No side on Friday. Urban voters supported the treaty by 69 per cent to 31 per cent.
Last year, the majority of women voted No, but the Fine Gael survey showed no real difference between male and female voters on this occasion, when there was no gender imbalance in the voting pattern.
Among age categories, those voters aged under 35 were most likely to vote No (41 per cent), with support for the treaty stronger in all other age groups.
Interviews were conducted just after subjects had voted. The survey was spread throughout the day, with respondents chosen equally from both genders and on a proportionate basis between urban and rural polling stations.