Flag referendum stats
UMR have done a survey of preferences on the new flag candidates that can be used to predict the preferential-voting result. According to their data, while Red Peak has improved a long way from basically no support in August, it has only improved enough to be a clear third to the two Lockwood ferns, which are basically tied for the lead both on first preferences and on full STV count. On the other hand, none of the new candidates is currently anywhere near beating the current version.
The error in a poll like this is probably larger than in an election poll, because there’s no relevant past data to work with. Also, for the second round of the referendum, it’s possible that cutting the proposals down to a single alternative will affect opinion. And, who knows, maybe Red Peak will keep gaining popularity.
Thomas Lumley (@tslumley) is Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Auckland. His research interests include semiparametric models, survey sampling, statistical computing, foundations of statistics, and whatever methodological problems his medical collaborators come up with. He also blogs at Biased and Inefficient See all posts by Thomas Lumley »