Research findings on Commission Campaign
Overall, the post-campaign research found voters to have been more engaged with the 2009 campaign than that in 2008. The post-campaign research was designed mainly to assess the impact of different aspects of the Commission campaign. The single most important aspect of Commission campaigns is usually seen as the guide to the referendum proposal that is delivered to all homes. Some 77 per cent of voters said they had received the guide. The guide was in fact delivered to all homes and it may be the case that some voters did not pay much attention to it when it arrived, and did not remember receiving it. Of those who received it, 33 per cent said they read all or most of the guide, 48 per cent read certain parts of it and 19 per cent said they did not read any of it.
A clear majority of those who received it found it helpful as shown in Graph 2 in the next section of this report. (This graph is available in PDF format only (71kb). If you are unable to access the PDF please contact the Referendum Commission's Access Officer, Mr Aidan Moore (Tel 01-6395712 or 087-9175186 or e-mail aidan_moore@ombudsman.gov.ie) who will try to make them available to you in an alternative format.)
The great majority of respondents said they had been exposed to at least one element of the Referendum Commission’s campaign. The free-to-air broadcast was seen as the most effective communications tool used. A point raised by a significant number of focus group participants was that the Commission would have much greater impact if it could begin its campaign earlier than it does. This is a point typically made by every Referendum Commission. The law currently only allows for the establishment of a Referendum Commission quite close to polling day, and if the law could be changed to allow for an earlier start or for a permanent standing Referendum Commission, this would allow the Commission fulfil its mandate more effectively.
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