November 7, 2001
Report & Analysis · Other Poll Releases
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgians are still troubled about the 2000 presidential election process and the problems associated with recording and counting votes, according to the Peach State Poll, a quarterly survey of public opinion in Georgia by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. The survey finds that a strong majority of residents (four out of five) approve of the Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting Initiative passed during the 2001 legislative session. Proposed by Secretary of State Cathy Cox, the legislation mandates that all voter precincts use the same type of voting machines by the July 2004 General Primary. A majority (79 percent) of Georgians believe that the legislation will improve the accuracy of vote counting.
In regard to modernizing election equipment, 69 percent of Georgians support state spending but are not in favor of raising taxes for that purpose. One-half (50 percent) of the public disapproves of a hypothetical tax increase to fix the problems associated with the November 2000 election; 38 percent of the public strongly disapproves.
Forty percent of Georgia residents say they are "very concerned" about the state of the election equipment being used in the nation today; an additional 33 percent say they are "somewhat concerned." When the question is brought closer to home, more than half of all Georgians say they are either "very concerned" (31 percent) or "somewhat concerned" (24 percent) about the equipment used in their precinct.
The survey shows that those residents most likely to vote are also more apt to express high concern over the state of election equipment than are those who are less likely to vote. Almost one-half (47 percent) of likely voters said they are "very concerned" about the state of election equipment in the nation as compared with 29 percent of those unlikely to vote who report being "very concerned."
Other survey results:
• A majority of Georgia residents (63 percent) agree that the problems experienced in last November’s election have led to a decline in the public’s faith in democracy.
• Forty percent of all Georgians believe that the problems surrounding the 2000 Presidential election did permanent harm to the United States; 63 percent of African Americans believe permanent harm was done by the last election as compared with only 28 percent of whites.
• Georgia residents believe that the system for recording and counting votes in their state is more accurate than that for Florida, despite a greater level of undercounts in Georgia than in Florida in the November 2000 presidential election. Even those respondents with high interest in news about elections and voting are convinced that Georgia fared better than Florida in terms of vote counting accuracy.
The first Peach State Poll, which concerned environmental issues in addition to election issues, was conducted during the month of September and included 802 telephone interviews of randomly selected adults in Georgia. For a sample of this size, the margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level is +/-3.5%.
