I have thought that the No on 10 advertisments have been very effective (and misleading) and they may be leading the fight. But these new poll numbers have me thinking something I was hoping the commercials would register with average South Dakota workers; The people pushing No on 10; politicians, lawyers, lobbyist groups and beaucrats. Most South Dakotans hate special interest money in politics, they also hate our tax dollars being paid out to overpriced companies in no-bid contracts. IM 10 winning may be the big surprise on November 5th afterall.
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Poll: Ban on tax-funded lobbying holds double-digit lead
NEA officials’ million-dollar “big lie” campaign didn’t work, backers say
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — An Oct. 18th poll of 500 likely voters found that 50 percent plan to vote in favor of Initiated Measure 10, a proposed ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying, while 36 percent plan to vote against it, the campaign committee supporting a “yes” vote on the proposal said Tuesday.
The official ballot description of Measure 10 authored by the Secretary of State reads as follows: An initiative to prohibit tax revenues from being used for lobbying or campaigning, to prohibit governmental bodies from lobbying, to prohibit government contractors from making campaign contributions, to prohibit government contracts when the contractor employs a legislator or legislative staff member, and to require contracts with government contractors to be published.
Dena Espenscheid, East River coordinator of South Dakotans for Open and Clean Government, said her group “is confident that when voters read what Measure 10 actually says, two things will happen. They’ll discover that NEA unions officials’ million-dollar ad campaign against Measure 10 is a lie, and they’ll vote ‘yes’ to stop politicians from using our tax dollars to lobby for things such as gun control and higher taxes, as they have in the past.”
“This poll indicates that’s what’s happening as people begin to actually read the proposal for themselves and ignore NEA union officials’ million-dollar ‘big lie’ campaign,” Espenscheid said. “It’s all the more encouraging since the poll was taken after over a month of NEA officials’ “big lie” TV ads had run, but before our TV ads really began.”
“South Dakotans aren’t stupid,” she said. “Any middle school student can tell you the U.S. Constitution guarantees every American’s free speech rights, and that no state law or ballot measure can possibly change that. So when people see NEA union officials’ melodramatic TV ads claiming that a ballot proposal will ‘make free speech a crime,’ they know that’s a lie.”
The telephone survey of 500 likely voters was conducted Oct. 18th by Pulse Opinion Research, an independent public opinion research firm which uses automated polling methodology and procedures licensed from Rasmussen Reports.
The poll used the actual language that will appear on the ballot to describe Measure 10, as follows:
“Another initiative that will be on the ballot is called Initiated Measure 10. This initiative would prohibit tax revenues from being used for lobbying or campaigning, prohibit governmental bodies from lobbying, prohibit government contractors from making campaign contributions, prohibit government contracts when the contractor employs a legislator or legislative staff member, and would require contracts with government contractors to be published. If the election were held today would you vote for or against Initiated Measure 10?”
In response, 50 percent said they would vote for it, 36 percent said they would vote against it, and 14 percent said they were not sure.
The poll also tested which elements of the ballot measure most motivate voter support, by asking the following:
“Im going to read you a short list of statements about Initiated Measure 10, the initiative that would prohibit governments from lobbying and government contractors from making campaign contributions. For each statement let me know whether it would make you more or less likely to vote for Initiated Measure 10, or would it have no impact on how you vote.”
* “First, the politicians, lobbyists, and government contractors who oppose Measure 10 are using tax dollars to pay for their campaign, and Measure 10 would prohibit politicians from spending tax dollars for lobbying or political campaigns.”
In response, 52 percent said they would be more likely to vote “yes” for Measure 10, while 20 percent said they would be less likely and 29 percent said it would have no impact or they weren’t sure.
* “Just as federal law already does regarding federal government contracts and campaigns, Measure 10 will prohibit state and local government contractors and their families from making campaign contributions to the politicians who award those government contracts.”
In response, 46 percent said they would be more likely to vote “yes” for Measure 10, while 27 percent said they would be less likely and 28 percent said it would have no impact on their vote, or they weren’t sure.
The poll had a 4.5 percent margin of error.
Espenscheid said the YES on 10 campaign “believes our support has grown even stronger in the ten days since this poll, especially after voters learned that the ‘big lie’ campaign against Measure 10 ispaid for almost entirely by out-of-state money from liberal NEA union bosses in Washington, D.C., whose left-wing political agenda is hostile to the values of South Dakota families.”