And the jury is still out on what impact the "political bombshells" both parties have been "exploding" will have on the outcome of the election.

Yesterday, pollster Peter Wickham defended the CADRES survey that tipped the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) to win; while Professor Ian Boxill stuck with the projection of a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) victory in the poll he conducted for the Cave Hill Associates Polling Organisation (CHAPO).

Wickham, director of CADRES (Caribbean Development Research Services), and Boxill, polling director of CHAPO, were taking part in a special Starcom Network Inc. Brasstacks radio call-in programme.

The third panellist was Editor Emeritus of Nation Publishing Company, Harold Hoyte, with the moderator being former banker Tony Marshall.

"Essentially, (CHAPO) seems to be saying: BLP – 16 (seats), DLP – 14," Wickham summarised. "We both polled the same weekend at the same time and CADRES is saying 20 (seats) to the DLP and 10 to the BLP.

"I am comfortable that the DLP is ahead. I am also comfortable that we have both acknowledged it is a swing against the BLP."

Boxill explained: "What our poll is saying is that this is a tight race but there is an advantage to the BLP."

He said the national poll and a number of constituency surveys done for the BLP indicated that "the advantage in most cases" went to the BLP.

Hoyte, in turn, said that on issues such as matters affecting Barbadians the most, the two polls "come in pretty well at the same level", but on issues related to leadership "the margins are a little larger".

Hoyte, Boxill and Wickham spoke against the backdrop of charges of Taiwanese money for the DLP campaign, contributions to the campaign of the BLP, and cost overruns on a number of Government projects.

However, they took the position that the "bombshells" might not be a major influence on how people vote tomorrow.

"I have always been of the view that unless there is a very serious matter of corruption with which the people of Barbados feel particularly angered, that issues that arise on the platform don't make a significant impact on how people will vote," Hoyte stated.

"I don't think that people go to meetings and hear something about a particular political figure and say I am definitely not going to vote for him, unless the matter is in the extreme."

Boxill said Jamaica's last election indicated this was also the case, pointing out that several issues raised by the Jamaica Labour Party in the election campaign "did not have a significant impact on how voters voted".

But Wickham said that the "bombshell" delivered by the Dems "could have had an impact" and could push the perceived vote-swing "even further than it is".

Wickham also told listeners he was predicting a 9.9 per cent swing away from the BLP, while CHAPO forecast a 4.6 per cent swing.

In the actual polls, CADRES said the DLP would get 35.3 per cent of the vote while the BLP would only get 30.1. And CHAPO's figures were 34.9 per cent for the DLP and 48.1 for the BLP. (TY)