cannabisnews.com: Ballot Measures Start Out Strong 





Ballot Measures Start Out Strong 
Posted by FoM on June 20, 2000 at 15:27:58 PT
By Burt Hubbard, DRM News Staff Writer
Source: InsideDenver
Proposed ballot initiatives on guns and growth and Douglas Bruce's tax-cut measure are heavily favored as the campaigns get ready to kick off, a new poll found.But the leads could be short-lived, analysts said."Most of the time with ballot issues, the first poll you take is the high point for that particular measure," said political analyst Katy Atkinson.
The Colorado News Poll found that 65 percent of registered voters in Colorado favored Bruce's measure to cut four types of taxes by $25 each and 25 percent opposed it. Talmey-Drake Research polled 517 voters June 6-13 on their views on 14 measures that will or could be on the November ballot. The poll for the Denver Rocky Mountain News and News4 has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.Only a possible measure to set aside tax surpluses to fix up the state Capitol failed in the poll with 36 percent support, while another to ban types of gold mining got 50 percent backing.Both sides of the tax-cut measure, which has qualified for the ballot, say their side will gain momentum."It's nice that we are ahead 21/2 to 1 before we even started campaigning," said Bruce, author of a successful 1992 tax cut. "The more they hear about it, the more they will appreciate the fairness of this compared to other tax cuts."Ruth Wright, a leader of the opposition group, said voters will oppose the measure when they learn about its impacts."I think once we start informing the public what this does, they are going to be astonished," said Wright, a former state legislator.The other citizen-backed initiative that has qualified for the ballot, legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes, had a larger lead, 73 percent to 20 percent.The other two measures expected to make the ballot, background checks on all sales at gun shows and growth restrictions in metro areas, also enjoyed big leads.Political analyst Eric Sondermann said a lot of these measures need large margins now to survive the expected erosion of support."If you don't start with a substantial base of support, you have no chance," he said. He said political and financial muscle is expected to surface against the growth and Bruce measures. The National Rifle Association may launch a campaign against the gun show background check initiative, he said. Sondermann said support for the gun show measure may be strong enough to survive an attack. The poll found that 83 percent supported it and 15 percent were against it.Atkinson said it doesn't take much to persuade voters to vote no on ballot issues that enjoy big margins early. That's what happened with school choice and parental responsibility measures that lost in past years. "It's kind of like a criminal trial where you only have to get one juror to come up with reasonable doubt," she said. "If you create reasonable doubt in the minds of voters, they frequently say no even on some of these issues that have huge numbers now."Contact Burt Hubbard at (303) 892-5107 or hubbardd RockyMountainNews.comPublished: June 20, 2000 © Copyright, Denver Publishing Co. Related Articles:Drug Policy Forum of Coloradohttp://www.drugsense.org/dpfco/Backers of 3 Marijuana Related Proposals Seek Voters http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4704.shtmlInitiative Aims Only At Helping The Sickhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread3496.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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