The poll conducted by SurveyUSA found 46% of likely voters polled said they are leaning toward voting "no". 44% are leaning toward voting "yes". That's a change from our exclusive Action News Poll released last Tuesday. It found 44% were certain to vote "no" on pot legalization, while 48% were certain to vote "yes".
The shift in the polls has Supporters of Prop 19 working hard to gain supporters.
"One week away from the election with a statistical dead heat I would say it comes down to turnout," said Allen Goyne. "What I'm telling our base voters to do is don't sit on the couch. Don't forget about it. Turnout, don't be a burnout."
Allen Goyne is the head of the local Yes on 19 Committee. He's concerned the opposition seems to be gaining ground. But Lynne Goodwin, President of the local Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is working against Prop 19 and is glad to see the shift in the polls.
Goodwin adds, "I am encouraged by the new statistics today and I do think people are getting educated on what the facts are."
While the SurveyUSA Poll shows 46% leaning toward no, and 44% leaning toward yes, there's a big separation by age. Of likely voters between 18 and 34, 59% lean toward yes on Prop 19. While 60% of those over 65 lean toward no. But with the overall polling so close, Lynne Goodwin isn't making any predictions on the outcome.
"This is a screwy election," said Goodwin. "I mean some people are ambivalent, some people are passionate about what should happen and what shouldn't happen."
Idell Tarver of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML says even if Prop 19 fails, the issue isn't going away. "We'll see how it settles in, if it does come in and if it doesn't something else is going to still come up and we're still going to be fighting for legalization." She said.
With the "Lean Yes" and "Lean No" just 2 percentage points apart, the goal will be to reach the 10% who say they aren't leaning at all.
