FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: September 9, 1998
Contact: Lee Lambert
(651) 296-2146, Fax: (651) 297-8135
1998 State Fair Poll Results
[St. Paul] ‹ Minnesotans favor banning personal watercraft on small lakes and sticking with a
two-house legislative system, but they oppose loosening the state's concealed-weapon laws, according
to an unofficial opinion poll conducted by the Minnesota House of Representatives during the 1998
Minnesota State Fair.
More than 3,100 fairgoers stopped by the House booth at the state fair and completed the 10-question
poll, using an experimental electronic touch-screen voting machine. The results were electronically
calculated after the fair concluded Sept. 7.
Here's a look at the poll questions with fairgoers' responses:
1. Should state law be changed to require that law enforcement officials issue a license to carry a
concealed weapon to any adult who requests one, with exceptions for the mentally ill and convicted
felons?
| Yes | 43.1% | (1,282) |
| No | 50.2% | (1,495) |
| Undecided/No Opinion | 6.7% | (198) |
2. Should school districts be allowed to begin the school year before Labor Day?
| Yes | 57.3% | (1,709) |
| No | 37.7% | (1,124) |
| Undecided/ No Opinion | 5.0% | (149) |
3. The November 1998 ballot will include the following proposed constitutional amendment: "Shall the
Minnesota Constitution be amended to affirm that hunting and fishing and the taking of game and fish
are a valued part of our heritage that shall be forever preserved for the people and shall be managed
by law and regulation for the public good?" How do you expect to vote?
| Yes | 56.5% | (1,669) |
| No | 30.7% | (906) |
| Undecided/No Opinion | 12.8% | (377) |
4. Would you support a constitutional amendment that would eliminate the state Senate and House of
Representatives and replace them with a unicameral (one-house) legislature?
| Yes | 38.6% | (1,138) |
| No | 50.3% | (1,485) |
| Undecided/No opinion | 11.1% | (328) |
5. Should personal watercraft be banned from small lakes ‹ those less than 200 acres in surface area ‹
in Minnesota?
| Yes | 62.3% | (1,821) |
| No | 30.5% | (891) |
| Undecided/No Opinion | 7.2% | (209) |
6. Should the state reduce the threshold of legal drunkenness for driving while intoxicated from 0.10
percent to 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content?
| Yes | 60.5% | (1,772) |
| No | 36.5% | (1,069) |
| Undecided/No Opinion | 3.0% | (88) |
7. Should the state help finance the construction of a new stadium for the Minnesota Twins, Minnesota
Vikings, or any other major sports team?
| Yes | 22.8% | (668) |
| No | 72.2% | (2,111) |
| Undecided/ No Opinion | 5.0% | (145) |
8. Should the state place a moratorium on construction of large animal feedlots ‹ those holding 750
heifers or the equivalent of other livestock ‹ on Minnesota farms?
| Yes | 51.8% | (1,503) |
| No | 28.3% | (820) |
| Undecided/ No Opinion | 19.9% | (578) |
9. What is your age range?
| 18-35 | 31.2% | (862) |
| 36-50 | 40.3% | (1,113) |
| 51-65 | 21.7% | (601) |
| 66-over | 6.8% | (188) |
10. Please indicate your opinion about the touch-screen voting system you are using to vote on this poll.
| Easy/Very Easy to Use | 86.2% | (2,359) |
| Average | 11.9% | (325) |
| Difficult | 1.9% | (52) |
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Please Note:
The Minnesota House of Representatives' survey is informal and unscientific. It is simply a
measurement of the opinions expressed by those who took the time to complete the poll while visiting
our booth in the Education Building at the Fair.
Our main purpose in conducting this opinion poll was to familiarize fairgoers with some of the issues
that have recently been discussed by the Legislature, and may be debated during the upcoming
Legislative Session.