More than 60 percent of North Carolinians favor a statewide lottery, while a majority of citizens support the current two-year term in office for state legislators.
Those are among the findings of a new Elon Poll, conducted April 23-25 by the Elon Institute for Politics and Public Affairs. The poll sampled the opinions of 663 adults in the state and has a margin of error of ± 4 percent.
The latest poll shows citizen support remains consistent for a statewide lottery. Sixty-three percent indicated that they support a lottery, a figure almost identical to Elon Polls conducted in December (64 percent), February (61 percent) and March (60 percent). Other lottery questions found:
- 63 percent of North Carolinians indicated they had played lotteries in other states. Of those, 57 percent had played the Virginia lottery, the most of any other state
- 31 percent of those favoring a lottery indicate they would spend $30 or less per year on lottery tickets, but 18 percent of those polled estimate they would spend over $100 annually on tickets
“We were interested in seeing what respondents thought they might spend annually on tickets,” says Sharon Spray, assistant professor of political science and director of the Elon Poll. “But often, lottery tickets are impulse buys or driven by large cash prizes and publicity, making it difficult for some people to predict what they will actually spend.”
The poll also revealed that North Carolina citizens do not favor increasing the terms of state legislators from two years to four years. Fifty-three percent believe two-year terms should remain law in the state, while 38 percent favor a change to four-year terms. There is also strong support for having the governor and lieutenant governor run for office on the same ticket, with 64 percent of the citizens in favor of such a change.
“Increasing legislative terms from two to four years has benefits and drawbacks for voters,” says Spray. “Frequent elections allow voters to check their legislators, but two-year terms keep legislators in a constant state of fund raising and campaigning. Two-year terms can also discourage legislators from favoring long-term policy prescriptions over short-term fixes.”
On other state issues:
- 69 percent of citizens are opposed to toll fees on North Carolina highways, while 26 percent favored toll roads
- 58 percent of citizens would support a tax increase if the extra income went to the state’s public schools. Only 36 percent opposed increased taxes for this purpose
- 63 percent support Governor Mike Easley’s proposed pre-kindergarten program. Of those, 59 percent would like the program to be mandatory for all pre-kindergarteners
This poll is the sixth conducted by the Elon Institute for Politics and Public Affairs since it was established in September. The non-partisan Elon Poll conducts frequent state-wide scientific telephone polls on issues of importance to North Carolinians. The poll results are shared with media, citizens and researchers to facilitate representative democracy and public policy making through the better understanding of the opinions and needs of North Carolina citizens.
The Elon Poll is conducted by students who work under the direction of faculty members in the political science department. A computerized polling center located on campus is equipped with sophisticated statistical software and 27 telephone polling stations.
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