Swing Vote - Profile of A Swing Voter

Profile of A Swing Voter

In an election, there are "certain" or "lock" votes - voters who are solidly behind or partisan to a particular candidate and will not consider changing their minds whatever the opposition says.

Swing voters are undecided about how they will vote. They are sometimes referred to as undecideds, undecided voters, or floating voter.

In the United States, they may be dissatisfied Republicans or Democrats who are open to the idea of voting for other parties, or they could be people who have never had a strong affiliation with any political party, and will vote depending on certain things that influence them - e.g. healthcare, benefits, election campaign etc.

Some might be people who have never exercised their right to vote before, such as those just reaching voting age.

Some, but not all, swing voters are considered to be "low-information voters."

Because the votes of swing voters are considered to be "up for grabs", candidates direct a fair proportion of campaign effort towards them, although they must also be concerned with voter turnout among their political base. There is a perception that swing voters are primarily motivated by self-interest rather than values or ideology, and so are particularly susceptible to pork barreling.

If a constituency contains a large proportion of swing voters it is often called a marginal seat and extensive campaign resources are poured into it.