[LINK] "How religion split the federal vote: poll"

[rfmcdonald]

Interesting Douglas Todd story in the Vancouver Sun showing the religious breakdown of voters in the recent election.

The Conservatives topped the polls in the May 2 election in part by winning over religious voters, particularly Protestants, but also Jews and longtime immigrants.

The New Democratic Party came in second in part by appealing to those who have no religion, as well as by holding their own among Catholics and recent immigrants.

The Liberals came in third by maintaining support among visible minorities and the moderately religious, especially Muslims but also Jews.

Those are the revealing findings of a massive Ipsos Reid federal election exit poll, which measured the effects of religion, ethnicity and immigrant status on electoral choices.

The online poll of more than 36,000 Canadians, conducted immediately after they cast their ballots, pinpoints changing political preferences that will be crucial for the parties to monitor.

The three major parties appealed to different segments of the country’s expanding immigrant and visible minority populations, which are most influential in large cities such as Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.

The New Democratic Party, which won 30.6 per cent of the popular vote, scored highest among recent immigrants, taking 41 per cent of the vote of newcomers who have been in Canada less than a decade.

But the Conservatives, who seized 39.6 per cent of the overall vote, won 43 per cent of immigrants who have been in the country longer than a decade.

Go, read the whole thing.