Oregonians are getting their ballots in the mail right now, and many are no doubt voting ‘yes’ on Measure 91. I have yet to see a poll showing marijuana legalization losing. Sure, there are polls that show less than 50% support, but the ‘no’ side of those polls is in the 30-low 40% range. So hypothetically, if all of the ‘undecided voters’ voted no, it could swing the election in favor of marijuana prohibition. I’m hopeful that won’t happen, and I hope people keep urging their friends and family members to vote ‘yes’ on Measure 91.
Another poll was released yesterday that showed Measure 91 winning by a heft margin. Per Survey USA:
Briefly overshadowed in some quarters by the week’s events, is Oregon Ballot Measure 91, which would legalize recreational marijuana for adults age 21 and older. Today, “Yes” on 91 leads “No” 48% to 37%. Compared to an identical 09/25/14 SurveyUSA poll, Yes is up 4 points, No is down 3 points. Yes had led by 4, now leads by 11. Greater Portland supports 91 by 15 points. The “rest of Oregon” supports 91 by just 2 points. Caution: support for this measure is young. Opposition is old. Older voters are more reliable than younger voters in a mid-term election. Any outcome remains possible, though “Yes” has the upper hand at this hour.
Cell-phone respondents and home-phone respondents included in this research: SurveyUSA interviewed 700 state of Oregon adults 10/16/14 through 10/19/14. Of the adults, 623 were registered to vote. Of the registered voters, 561 were determined by SurveyUSA to be return a ballot before the 11/04/14 deadline. This research was conducted using blended sample, mixed mode. Respondents reachable on a home telephone (72% of likely voters) were interviewed on their home telephone in the recorded voice of a professional announcer. Respondents not reachable on a home telephone (28% of likely voters) were shown a questionnaire on their smartphone, tablet or other electronic device. Interviewing for this survey was conducted during fast-moving news events. It is possible voters have not had time to digest some of the news as yet. In that case, these numbers may change again between now and Election Day.
I personally don’t want to see anyone else arrested for marijuana in Oregon. I also don’t want to have to live in fear of having my son taken away from me because of marijuana prohibition. I would also love to see the look on my old college classmate’s faces when marijuana is legalized (public policy major in college), something that they said would never be done in Oregon. If you haven’t already, make sure to visit DidTheyVote.Org to see if your friends and/or family members have voted yet, and if they haven’t, give them a gentle reminder. As the survey stated, we need as many people to vote as possible, especially young people, which are by far our largest demographic to this website. Chances are, if you are reading this, you are between the ages of 18-34, so make sure to vote, and tell every other Oregonian you know to do the same!
