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Factors Influencing Voting Choices - Yemen

All survey respondents were asked about the most important factors that would influence their voting choices when voting in parliamentary elections. The results show that for both women and men, the top three factors are the same and in the same order.

  • The top factor mentioned by respondents as influencing their voting choices is the services that candidates provide to their area: this was mentioned by 61% of women and 71% of men. This is followed by the factor that candidates are not corrupt or the honesty of the candidate, mentioned by 37% of women and 48% of men, and the candidate’s charisma or personality (21% of women and 31% of men). In fourth place, 19% of women mentioned the candidate’s stance on issues of importance to women as being one of the main factors influencing their voting choices; this was only mentioned by 4% of men. Meanwhile, 18% of women mention the religiosity of the candidate as being one of the main factors influencing their voting choices. This is mentioned by a similar proportion of men (17%) and ranks in sixth place.
  • For men, the candidate’s party takes a high priority (fourth place) with a quarter of men mentioning it as a factor influencing their voting choices. This factor is mentioned by 14% of women (Figure 15).
  • Twenty-two percent of men mention the candidate’s platform in the fifth place as being one of the main factors influencing their voting choices. This is much lower on women’s voting priorities and is mentioned by only 9% of women (not shown).
  • When looking at factors influencing women’s voting choices by educational attainment, we find that the top two factors are the same across all educational levels, namely the services that candidates provide to their area and candidates who are not corrupt. For women with a lower education attainment, i.e. those with less than a primary education, the third most cited factor is the candidate’s charisma or personality. This ranks in fourth place for women with a primary education or higher (Figure 16).
  • It is encouraging to note that women who have a primary education or higher tend to prioritize the candidate’s stance on issues of importance to women much more than women with a lower educational attainment. Indeed, this factor ranks third for women with a primary education or higher whereas it ranks seventh for women with no formal education and fifth for women with with less than a primary education.
  • The religiosity of the candidate is a factor that makes it to the top five factors influencing voting choices for women in most education groups. For women with less than a primary education, it ranks fourth and for women who have a primary or intermediate education, it ranks fifth. However, it drops to the sixth place for women who have a secondary education or higher.
  • It is also noteworthy that for women with no education, an important factor influencing their voting choices (in the fifth place) is whether their family or friends always vote for or like the candidate. The importance of this factor is much lower for women who have a higher educational attainment: it ranks tenth for women with less than a primary education, ninth for women with a primary education and eleventh for women with an intermediate education or higher.
  • When looking at factors influencing women’s voting choices by  residential density, we find that the top two factors are the same across all three types of residential density: services that candidates provide to their area and candidates who are not corrupt. For women living in small villages (rural areas), the religiosity of the candidate ranks third in terms of factors influencing voting choices. This factor is ranked fourth among women living in small towns or large villages and sixth for women living in urban areas, including suburbs. The candidate’s stance on issues of importance to women ranks high (third place) for women living in urban areas, while it represents a much lower priority (sixth place) for women living in small villages in rural areas or in small towns or large villages.

Survey respondents were next asked to rank their top policy concerns, i.e. the issues that they believe elected officials should prioritize while in office.

  • Highest on Yemeni women’s list is fighting poverty (58%), fighting corruption (38%), creating jobs (33%), improving access to healthcare (27%), and improving the economy in general (27%).
  •  Men’s top policy priorities are not too different from women: the top two concerns are the same but in reverse order. Sixty-four percent of men mention fighting corruption, followed by fighting poverty (49%). Improving the economy in general ranks in third place for men (44%), followed by creating jobs (38%), and improving the quality of education (22%).
  • Women place more importance than men on improving the status of women in the country: 16% of women mention this among their top policy concerns compared with only 3% of men (Figure 18).

When looking at women’s policy priorities by residential density, we find that fighting poverty is the number one policy concern for all women, whether they live in urban areas, rural areas, or in small towns or large villages. For women living in small villages, the second policy priority is improving access to healthcare. This ranks fifth for women living in small towns or large villages and much lower in the ninth place for women living in urban areas. The third policy priority for women living in small villages is fighting corruption; this ranks higher in the second place among women living in small towns or large villages and urban areas.

  • For women living in small towns or large villages and urban areas, the third priority is creating jobs. This ranks in fifth place for women living in small villages (Figure 19).