Datafolha: 17 Percent of Bolsonaro Voters Claim to Regret Having Done So

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A Datafolha survey released on Wednesday, April 8th, shows that 17 percent of those who voted for Jair Bolsonaro for President in 2018 now regret it.

In a survey conducted from March 18th to 20th, respondents who said they regretted having voted for Bolsonaro totaled 15 percent. The difference with the most recent survey is within the margin of error.

Women make up 60 percent of this group. According to the survey, 39 percent of respondents find the administration of Jair Bolsonaro bad or terrible in the Coronavirus crisis, 33 percent consider his performance good or great, and 25 percent see it as average. A total of two percent of respondents said they did not know.

The percentage of those who consider the government’s performance as bad or terrible rises to 63 percent among those who claim to regret having voted for the President. Among those who voted for Fernando Haddad, the rate is only a little higher: 70 percent considered to be bad or terrible.

The survey also showed that those who regret having voted for the President are more afraid of the coronavirus than the general population: 45 percent in this group and 38 percent of the general average. These also believe that the number of deaths caused by the pandemic will be very high: 66 percent compared to 52 percent of the general population.

Repentant voters still show a greater fear of being infected by the novel coronavirus than the general average. Among the population as a whole, 38 percent said they were very afraid, 39 percent a little afraid and 23 percent not afraid.

Among those who voted for Bolsonaro and regret it, 45 percent said they were very afraid, 34 percent a little afraid and 22 percent not afraid.

The survey was conducted by telephone between April 1st and 3rd. A total of 1,511 people were interviewed. The error margin is three percentage points, plus or minus.