Voters strongly support a constitutional amendment protecting their right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife in the state, according to the final statewide Civitas Institute poll before the Nov. 6 election.
A total of 62 percent of voters are in favor of the amendment, which will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. If approved, it will create constitutional protections for North Carolinians to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife. Of that 62 percent, 46 percent “strongly favor” and 16 percent “somewhat favor” the initiative.
A total of 27 percent of voters oppose the measure.
In total:
Strongly favor – 46%
Somewhat favor – 16%
Strongly oppose – 20%
Somewhat oppose – 7%
Unsure/Refused – 13%
Support for the amendment strongly comes from Republican voters, though there is some support from Democratic voters as well. More than 80 percent of those voting for Republican candidates on both the generic state legislative and congressional ballots are in favor of the measure, and nearly 40 percent of those voting Democrat on those same ballots agreed. A majority of third party and undecided voters also support the amendment.
Outside of Florida, North Carolina is the only state in the Southeast without a constitutional amendment protecting the right to hunt and fish. Such protection would be a welcome addition for those in rural communities, who aren’t guaranteed the same hunting and fishing protections as those in neighboring states.
The sample size for the survey was 500 likely voters in North Carolina and the margin of error is +/- 4.4 percent. Responses were gathered via landline and mobile telephone interviews live callers at a professional call center conducted. Harper Polling conducted the survey Oct. 18-21 2018.
