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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolinians broadly support the constitutional amendments on the ballots this November, but voters’ views on property taxes shifted when they heard about potential tradeoffs, according to a new Catawba College poll.
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The poll split 1,000 North Carolinians into two groups. One was presented with the tax proposals on their own, while the other also heard arguments for and against them.
Nearly 8 in 10 supported a proposed amendment requiring state lawmakers to limit how much local governments can raise property taxes when the idea was presented on its own.
But in the second group, that support dropped 10 points to 69%. That group was told the amendment could help make housing more affordable, but could also put pressure on financially struggling counties to cut services if they cannot raise enough revenue.
“And if they are presented with information, perhaps for and/or against, it really does signify that the voters take that information into account and perhaps adjust their feelings towards the particular amendment as opposed to just having a straight up or down vote,” said Dr. Michael Bitzer, political scientist at Catawba College.
But more information didn’t have the same effect on the other tax amendment. That proposal would lower the constitutional cap on the state personal income tax rate from 7% to 3.5%.
Support barely changed – 67% supported it when presented on its own, compared to 66% when voters heard arguments on both sides.
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“That was one of the surprising things to me that even with additional information, particularly in terms of dealing with things like state budgets, and other business policies, there was very little movement in terms of the support,” Bitzer said.
The third amendment on the ballot deals with photo ID requirements for absentee voting.
The poll found 70% supported the amendment, while 78% said providing a copy of an acceptable photo ID with an absentee ballot would be easy.
State law already requires absentee voters to provide a copy of their photo ID or complete an exception form. The amendment would put the photo ID requirement for all voters into the state constitution.
Bitzer said the amendments could easily get overshadowed by higher-profile races this fall.
“These constitutional amendments are probably going to fall very far under the radar for most voters,” Bitzer said. “They’re going to be worried about the U.S. Senate race. Maybe the House race. But these constitutional amendments have real impact on the daily lives of North Carolinians.”
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