Dec. 16, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Francis De Luca (919) 834-2099 Francis.DeLuca@nccivitas.org
RALEIGH – A new Civitas Institute poll illuminates North Carolina voters’ attitudes about today’s most pressing issues. The survey of 600 registered North Carolina voters was done Dec. 4-8. The margin of error was plus-minus 4 percent.
Top Issues
Forty-seven percent of voters said that in thinking ahead to the 2014 election, they are most concerned with national issues, while 32 percent said state issues. Another 19 percent said both. Asked to respond in their own words about which national issues will impact their votes next year, health issues got the heaviest responses. Twenty-nine percent responded healthcare or Medicaid; 25 percent said Obamacare/the Affordable Care Act.
Word cloud online at http://bit.ly/18osn2d
On national issues for the 2014 election year, fiscal issues were the second-biggest concern, after health care. Fifteen percent of respondents named the economy, and 14 percent cited budget/overspending.
On state issues, jobs and unemployment were the second biggest concern, cited by 20 percent of respondents. Education, teachers and teacher pay, cited by 36 percent, were the top concerns.
“Voters continue to be pessimistic about the economy, but our poll suggests this concern now extends to the issue of health care and the Affordable Care Act, which has dominated national headlines. In North Carolina education remains, as always, an issue for a segment of the voting public,” Civitas President Francis De Luca said.
Health Care
53 percent oppose of respondents oppose the Affordable Care Act; 44 percent of respondents support it.
The Economy
Over eighty-five percent of respondents thought the nation is still in a recession and three-fourths expect the recession continue for at least another year. This pessimistic outlook for the economy has persisted with little variation in Civitas Polls since 2009 despite the assurances of elected officials and experts that the economy has emerged from the downturn.
Poll Question
Thinking about the economy, in your opinion, how much longer do you think it will take for the economy to improve and the current recession to end? If you think the recession has ended just say so.
Twenty-two percent of respondents said they or someone in their household had lost a job, had work hours reduced, or had lost their employer-sponsored health insurance in the past year.
Voter ID Lawsuit
Registered voters were asked about a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit against North Carolina’s new voter ID laws. In the poll, 54 percent of respondents agreed that the law will protect the state against voter fraud, and that the lawsuit was influenced by liberal special-interest groups. Forty percent say the law was unnecessary and suppresses voting among minorities.
Text of questions*:
Thinking ahead to the 2014 election, in general which issues are you more concerned with…
47% Federal issues
32% State issues
19% Both
— Neither/Other
1% Don’t Know
Top Issues
And, in your own words, which (FEDERAL/STATE) issues will impact your vote next year? (OPEN END)
Federal
29% Healthcare/ Medicaid
25% Obamacare/ Affordable Care Act
15% Economy
14% Budget/ Overspending
10% Immigration
10% Government/ Leadership
8% Taxes
7% Social Issues/ Abortion/ Gay marriage
7% Jobs/ Unemployment
6% Foreign Policy/ Wars
5% Education/ Schools/ Teachers/ Teacher pay
4% Gun Control
3% Military
2% Senior issues/ Social Security
1% Welfare/ Entitlements
1% Poverty/ Hunger/ Helping the poor
1% Environment
3% Other
3% None/ Nothing
3% Don’t Know
1% Refused
State
36% Education/ Schools/ Teachers/ Teacher pay
20% Jobs/ Unemployment
17% Healthcare/ Medicaid
12% Voting Rights/ Voter ID laws
8% Economy
7% Taxes
6% Poverty/ Hunger/ Helping the poor
6% Government/ Leadership
4% Social issues/ Abortion/ Gay marriage
4% Senior issues/ Social Security
4% Welfare/ Entitlements
3% Environment
3% Immigration
3% Budget/ Overspending
1% Obamacare/ Affordable Care Act
— Gun Control
5% Other
4% None/ Nothing
8% Don’t Know
Voter ID Lawsuit
As you may know, the Justice Department, the North Carolina NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union have all filed lawsuits against North Carolina’s new voter ID laws. The lawsuits challenge the requirement of voters to present photo ID at the polls, and call for a return of same-day registration and a longer timeframe for early voting and vote by mail. With that in mind, please tell me which of the following opinions comes closer to your own…
54% (Some/Other) people say the law will protect the state from voter fraud and that the lawsuits filed are influenced by liberal special interest groups. They agree with those who say that the Justice Department seems to pick and choose the states that they challenge the law in and that these suits are political.
40% (Other/Some) people say that the law suppresses the vote amongst minorities, who they claim are less likely to have a state issued photo ID. They say that the restrictive laws were politically influenced and an overreach and unnecessary.
6% Don’t Know
1% Refused
The Economy
Thinking about the economy, in your opinion, how much longer do you think it will take for the economy to improve and the current recession to end? If you think the current recession has ended just say so.
5/11 9/11 3/12 7/12 1/13 5/13 12/13
1% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% 2% Under 6 months
7% 3% 7% 4% 7% 7% 6% Between 6 months and a year
22% 24% 23% 21% 23% 19% 18% Between 1 and 2 years
60% 62% 54% 62% 58% 54% 59% Over 2 years
3% 1% 6% 3% 5% 10% 9% Recession has ended
7% 8% 9% 9% 6% 9% 5% Don’t Know
— — — — — — 1% Refused
Have you or anyone in your household had their work hours reduced, lost their job or had their or their families’ health insurance dropped by their employer this year?
22% Yes
76% No
2% Don’t Know/Refused
Health Care
Do you support or oppose the new health care law known as The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare?
44% Total Support
53% Total Oppose
31% Strongly Support
13% Somewhat Support
9% Somewhat Oppose
45% Strongly Oppose
3% Don’t Know/ No Opinion
*Due to rounding, subtotals may differ from final sums.
Crosstabs here.
This poll of 600 registered voters in North Carolina was conducted Dec. 4-8, 2013 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered general election voters in North Carolina. Twenty-five percent of the respondents were cell phone-only users. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past two general elections (2010, 2012) or be newly registered to vote since November 7, 2012. The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.”
Civitas conducts the only regular live-caller polling of North Carolina voters. For more information on Civitas polling, see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.
The Civitas Institute is a policy institute based in Raleigh, N.C. More information is available at www.nccivitas.org, or contact Jim Tynen at (919) 834-2099 or james.tynen@nccivitas.org.
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