Sequestration, gun control and the state legislature constituted the questions in the most recent Elon Poll, which released results March 1 and March 4. The live-caller telephone poll of 891 residents was conducted Feb. 24-28, and the results have a margin of error of 3.28 percentage points.
Regarding sequestration, the poll found 36 percent of North Carolinians were “very worried” about the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that the sequester enacted March 1, and 34 percent said they were “somewhat worried.”
“I think the uncertainty really creates the fear,” said Kenneth Fernandez, director of the Elon Poll. “But also people know that the defense industry is so substantial here that if across-the-board cuts are going to disproportionately affect defense, they probably have friends and family that are going to be affected.”
Only 11 percent of North Carolinians expressed approval of Congress, a rate Jason Husser, assistant director of the Elon Poll, called “dismally low.”
The poll also inquired about Gov. Pat McCrory’s performance since assuming office in January. Forty-two percent expressed approval, but 32 percent said they did not know. This is how new governors are typically rated, especially at a time when the North Carolina General Assembly is highly active, according to Husser.
“The positive thing for McCrory is that, even though it suggests that he should do more to be known in the state, it also means he has an opportunity to craft his image,” he said.
For its part, the N.C. General Assembly received a 33 percent approval rating in the poll.
North Carolinians also weighed in on gun control. In a May 2012 Elon Poll, 44 percent of respondents said that gun laws should remain unchanged, but after the mass shooting in Aurora, Colo. and Newtown, Conn. that took place last year, North Carolinians’ opinions seem to have changed.
Ninety-three percent supported background checks for guns and 83 percent supported waiting periods to buy guns, numbers so high that pollsters triple-checked the results. Fifty-five percent supported laws limiting the size of ammunition clips and bans on semi-automatic assault rifles.
“There are some common sense policies, like a background check or a waiting period, that are reasonable,” Fernandez said. But when you start banning things, people go, ‘that’s an infringement of my rights.’”
The poll also asked about voter I.D. laws, which would require people to show a government I.D., such as a driver’s license, in order to vote. The question was partially inspired by a national press conference in favor of voter I.D. laws held in Raleigh Mar. 5, according to Husser.
Seventy-two percent of respondents said they would support stricter voter I.D. laws. The pollsters also found around 97 percent of respondents had a driver’s license. According to the N.C. State Board of Elections, around 500,000 North Carolinians, or 7.8 of registered voters, who voted in past elections did not have a valid driver’s license.
“Most of the people we know have some type of I.D., so I think people think it’s just common sense,” Fernandez said. “I don’t think they think about the costs or benefits.”