Half of registered voters disapprove of the governing party’s performance since the last election, according to the latest survey by research firm MindMaps.And just 21 percent said they approve of the performance of the Progressive Labour Party. But the Opposition One Bermuda Alliance fared marginally better at 26 percent, although only 30 percent said they disapproved of its performance since inception, with 15 percent saying they did not know.The survey, conducted between December 3 and December 10, asked registered voters their rating of the PLP’s performance since the last election, using a scale of one through five, where five is “strongly approve” and one is “strongly disapprove”.White voters were far more likely to disapprove of the PLP’s performance (91 percent), than their black counterparts (32 percent).But a quarter of the voters surveyed gave the governing party a three — in the middle of the scale — indicating a neutral position. Twenty-nine percent gave the OBA the same rating.Broken down by age, voters 65 years and over were more likely (65 percent) to disapprove of the PLP’s performance than other age groups. But the oldest voters also showed a greater likelihood (24 percent) of approving of the governing party than others.Bermuda’s youngest voters — 18 to 34 year olds — are also not overly impressed with the performance of the PLP. Forty five percent said they disapproved, while just 21 percent said they approved of the governing party’s performance and 34 percent were in the middle of the range.Among 35 — 44 year olds, 45 percent disapproved of the PLP’s performance, 16 percent said they approved and 39 percent were in the middle of the range.Respondents were asked how they rated the OBA’s performance since inception, using the same scale.White voters were more likely (44 percent) to approve of the Opposition party’s performance than black voters (18 percent), but an equal proportion of white voters were in the middle range compared to just 23 percent of black voters.At 41 percent, black voters were also more likely to disapprove of the OBA’s performance.The OBA’s highest approval ratings came from the oldest and the youngest voters. Thirty four percent of those between the ages of 18 and 34 approved of its performance, as did 35 percent of voters who were 65 and over, and 27 percent of those between 55 and 64.But 39 percent of 45 to 54 year olds, 35 percent of 55 to 64 year olds and 24 percent of those older than 65 disapproved of the Opposition party’s performance.Voters in the youngest age bands — 18 to 34 and 35 to 44 year olds — were also more likely (at 21 percent each) to say they did not know how they would rate the performance of the OBA.Independent candidates David Tavares and Jonathan Starling said the performance rating data reinforces the view that Bermuda politics is polarised by race.“The white voter see the PLP as a bunch of nincompoops and only they and their surrogates can manage and do a far better job of the economy and government administration,” said Mr Tavares.Mr Starling said: “I think that the independents or a third party are a necessary factor in moving to constructively deal with these divisions. All the two-party system has done is help maintain these divisions, and I don't see them having the capacity to do otherwise.”