Sumatra Barat: A Potential Stronghold for Gerindra (Based on Survey Indicators)

The Indonesian Political Indicator research institute released a survey report titled "Electoral Map and Presidential Candidates in West Sumatra" on Thursday, August 2, 2023.

According to the report, Gerindra is the leading political party in West Sumatra until July 2023.

"Gerindra was mentioned most frequently at 18.7% in the top-of-mind simulation for House of Representatives (DPR RI) party choices," wrote Indikator in its report.

Next are the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), competing closely with a slight difference, each obtaining 8.8% and 8.6%, respectively.

Then, the Democratic Party and Golkar follow, occupying the top five with 8.5% and 8% of the vote, respectively.

On the other hand, 37.3% of respondents had not yet chosen a political party in the 2024 election simulation.

"In this top-of-mind or open-ended question, many answered 'don't know' and 'didn't answer'," said Indikator Senior Researcher Rizka Halida in a virtual press conference on Wednesday, August 3, 2023.

Indikator also conducted a simulation with 18 party names and logos; Gerindra remained the leading party in West Sumatra with 23.8%.

Its percentage is significantly higher than PKS and the Democratic Party, which each garnered 11.5% and 11% of the vote from respondents in West Sumatra.

The Indikator survey was conducted among West Sumatran residents with voting rights in the general election, aged at least 17 years old or already married at the time of the survey.

Sampling was conducted using multistage random sampling, obtaining 1,620 successfully interviewed respondents.

Data collection was carried out from June 26 to July 10, 2023, using face-to-face interviews by trained interviewers. The survey has a margin of error of approximately 2.7% with a 95% confidence level.