Opinion:   “In North Carolina, most polls show between 62% and 70% of registered voters support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman."

 (4)

Fact:   Though the least-biased polling available shows growing opposition to this amendment, the question raised here is one of intent. In referencing data, are we presenting an accurate view of real public sentiment, or are we presenting a partial, skewed, artificial view? In all polling, and specifically on this issue, much is revealed by the specific questions asked, and the way they are asked.

Elon University’s data on this issue differ from the conservative Civitas Institute data referenced here because the Elon polls have given respondents the opportunity to differentiate between opposition to gay marriage and opposition to this amendment. Because this amendment prohibits not just marriage, but domestic partnerships and civil unions, we see that a growing majority of North Carolinians oppose this amendment. So, the accurate view of public sentiment is the reverse of what we’re told in this statement, and as more people understand that the amendment does not just seek to ‘define marriage’, support for it steadily decreases.

It’s helpful that we do have nonpartisan polling from Elon on this important issue, because it relieves us of the need to seek data from pollsters who describe themselves as “republican strategist”, as does Adam Geller, head of National Research, Inc., who was contracted to supply the above numbers to Civitas. Money given to partisan strategists for polling on public policy may yield the desired results, but the first rule of unbiased surveying is not to desire any particular result whatsoever.


(*) These are the misleading sources linked from the NC Values Coalition web page ‘opinions’ above:

(4) 73% favor or strongly favor, Civitas Institute Poll, December 2009, at http://www.nccivitas.org/2009/december-2009-poll-results/; 70% favor or strongly favor, Civitas Institute Poll, April 2010, at http://www.nccivitas.org/2010/civitas-poll-7-10-north-carolina-voters-support-constitutional-amendment-defini/.