Poll finds three-quarters of Vermont voters support abortion amendment

A proposed constitutional modification defending abortion rights in Vermont may see a landslide victory in November, based on a brand new ballot launched Thursday night.

The College of New Hampshire survey, commissioned by WCAX, discovered that 75% of respondents stated they might help the measure, often known as Proposal 5 or Article 22. Simply 18% stated they might vote in opposition to it and 6% stated they had been nonetheless not sure.

The modification, which has been authorized by the Vermont Home and Senate twice over 4 years, would assure “a person’s proper to private reproductive autonomy.” If authorized by a majority of voters in November, it will turn into a part of the Vermont Structure. 

Assist for the modification assorted by political get together, the ballot discovered, with 94% of Democrats backing it and 56% of independents. Republicans had been divided, with 41% supporting it and 45% opposing it. 

Solely 45% of the voters polled stated they absolutely understood the modification’s wording, although one other 43% stated they understood it “considerably nicely.”

The text- and web-based ballot, performed from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3, surveyed 765 Vermont residents above the age of 18. The margin of error was 3.5%. 

The survey additionally coated different points, similar to gun management, regulation enforcement and secure injection websites.

Requested about Vermont’s gun legal guidelines, 47% stated they need to be stricter, whereas 35% stated they need to stay unchanged and 15% stated they need to be much less strict. Amongst gun house owners, 35% stated they wished stricter legal guidelines, 41% stated they need to keep the identical and 21% stated they need to be extra lenient.

Greater than 1 / 4 of respondents stated that they had little or no belief of their native regulation enforcement. 42% of voters stated that they had some religion and 31% stated that they had a whole lot of belief in native police.

Republicans, older Vermonters, these from central and southern Vermont and people who determine as white “have significantly extra belief of their native regulation enforcement,” the College of New Hampshire pollsters discovered. 

The ballot solely broke out racial demographics into two classes: “caucasian/white” and “different races/ethnicities.” Whereas solely 9% of those that recognized as caucasian/white stated that they had no belief in native regulation enforcement, 41% of those that recognized as a member of different races/ethnicities stated that they had no belief in native police. 

Respondents’ belief in regulation enforcement elevated with age. Solely 8% of these 18-34 stated they trusted police “lots.” That quantity doubled within the 35-49 class, rose to 42% amongst these 50-64 and landed at 54% amongst these 65 and older. 

The survey discovered an in depth divide on whether or not to open secure injection websites, the place individuals would be capable to use illicit medicine underneath supervision to fight deadly overdoses. 44% would help such websites, whereas 40% would oppose them. One other 9% stated they had been impartial and seven% stated they weren’t positive.

Two-thirds of Democrats stated they might help opening such websites, however two-thirds of independents and 85% of Republicans stated they might oppose them.