Courtenay-Alberni NDP candidate Gord Johns has seen a slight dip in support since July while second-place Conservative candidate John Duncan has climbed to within six points, according to an Insights West poll on behalf of the Dogwood Initiative. Liberal candidate Carrie Powell-Davidson and Green candidate Glenn Sollitt remain well back in third and fourth place.
The Dogwood Initiative is a non-partisan citizen advocacy organization that is tracking voter interest in the buildup to next month's federal election.
May numbers indicated the NDP held about a 13-point lead.
Dave Mills, Dogwood field organizer for Northern Vancouver Island, said undecided voters are still at 24 per cent — the same number as the last election when voter turnout was around 66 per cent.
"So almost a quarter of the surveyed population is undecided," Mills said. "That's interesting in itself."
Among decided voters, he said 39 per cent support the NDP, 33 per cent Conservatives, 13 per cent Liberals and 12 per cent Green.
The margin of error is 5.5 per cent.
"It could almost be considered a statistical tie. It is a proper sample, at 300. Next time we're going to do 400. That will cut the margin of error in half," Mills said.
In an effort to reach new voters, Dogwood volunteers will hit the streets across the riding on Saturday, Sept. 19. They will be outside the Wandering Moose in Cumberland at 10:30 a.m. and the Komox Grind in Comox at 11 a.m. In Courtenay at 11 a.m., volunteers will be at the Broken Spoke and at John Gower's Co-op.