Chief Ministerial face was the most important factor influencing votes for or against candidates of various political parties during the 2018 Assembly elections in five states, says a survey conducted by an election watchdog.

Conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the survey report released on Monday said it was “distressing” to see that for 41.34 per cent voters, distribution of cash, liquor or gifts was an important factor deciding their choice of candidates.

“As per All India Survey 2018, 75.11 per cent voters disclosed that CM candidate was the most important reason behind voting for a particular candidate, followed by candidate’s party (71.32 per cent) and the candidate (68.03 per cent) himself or herself,” read the survey.

The ADR conducted the survey between October and December 2018 covering 534 Lok Sabha constituencies, in which 2,73,487 voters spread among various demographics participated.

In relation to voting for candidates with criminal antecedents, maximum number of voters (36.67 per cent) felt that people voted for such candidates because they were unaware of his or her criminal records, it said.

As many as 35.89 per cent voters were found to be willing to vote for a candidate with criminal past if the he/she has done good work in the past.

Although 97.86 per cent voters felt that candidates with criminal background should not enter Parliament or state Assemblies, only 35.20 per cent voters knew that they could get information on criminal record of the candidates, the survey said.