Survey: Voters support ending preferences
The coalition backing a statewide affirmative-action ban says a new survey shows most Nebraskans support eliminating race and gender preferences in hiring and admissions decisions.
Wilson Research Strategies surveyed 500 likely voters this month on behalf of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, the group behind an effort to collect enough petition signatures to get a race- and gender-based affirmative-action ban on the November ballot.
According to the survey, released Tuesday, 71 percent of respondents said they favored ending race and gender preferences.
Another 16 percent were opposed, and 13 percent were undecided or did not answer.
“The results speak for themselves,” Doug Tietz, executive director of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, said of the survey.
“Nebraskans are united in supporting the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative.”
Initiative supporters need to collect about 115,000 petition signatures by July 4 to get the issue on the ballot.
Tietz said he’s “confident” they will, though he declined to say how many signatures have been collected so far.
The initiative’s survey, like its petition question, does not use the phrase “affirmative action,” a fact critics say is misleading to voters who may believe the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative is aligned with the Civil Rights Movement.
“The language has been carefully drafted so that people do not know exactly what this does,” said David Kramer, campaign lawyer for Nebraskans United, the coalition fighting the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative.
“The language on its face does not sound offensive, does not sound objectionable. But if this gets on the ballot, we’ll demonstrate exactly what this language means.”
Kramer and others say most Nebraskans support the tailored use of affirmative action, such as at the University of Nebraska, to achieve a diverse student body.
NU has said programs and scholarships geared toward women and minorities could be in danger if an affirmative-action ban passes. The Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative denies that.
Initiative leaders also have dismissed claims their language is misleading, saying voters should be able to understand the issue and that their opponents simply don’t want to acknowledge waning public support for race and gender preferences.
Other highlights of the survey:
* 69 percent of men and 73 percent of women support ending race and gender preferences.
* 73 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of Democrats support ending preferences.
* 72 percent of whites, 64 percent of Hispanics and 76 percent of blacks support ending preferences.
* 44 percent of respondents said they definitely would vote in favor of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative. Ten percent said they definitely would vote against it.
Similar affirmative-action bans already have passed in California, Michigan and Washington. Five more states were targeted this year: Nebraska, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri.
Supporters of the civil rights initiatives in Oklahoma and Missouri failed to gather enough petition signatures by their respective deadlines to put the issue before voters.
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.
Wilson Research Strategies surveyed 500 likely voters this month on behalf of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, the group behind an effort to collect enough petition signatures to get a race- and gender-based affirmative-action ban on the November ballot.
According to the survey, released Tuesday, 71 percent of respondents said they favored ending race and gender preferences.
Another 16 percent were opposed, and 13 percent were undecided or did not answer.
“The results speak for themselves,” Doug Tietz, executive director of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, said of the survey.
“Nebraskans are united in supporting the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative.”
Initiative supporters need to collect about 115,000 petition signatures by July 4 to get the issue on the ballot.
Tietz said he’s “confident” they will, though he declined to say how many signatures have been collected so far.
The initiative’s survey, like its petition question, does not use the phrase “affirmative action,” a fact critics say is misleading to voters who may believe the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative is aligned with the Civil Rights Movement.
“The language has been carefully drafted so that people do not know exactly what this does,” said David Kramer, campaign lawyer for Nebraskans United, the coalition fighting the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative.
“The language on its face does not sound offensive, does not sound objectionable. But if this gets on the ballot, we’ll demonstrate exactly what this language means.”
Kramer and others say most Nebraskans support the tailored use of affirmative action, such as at the University of Nebraska, to achieve a diverse student body.
NU has said programs and scholarships geared toward women and minorities could be in danger if an affirmative-action ban passes. The Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative denies that.
Initiative leaders also have dismissed claims their language is misleading, saying voters should be able to understand the issue and that their opponents simply don’t want to acknowledge waning public support for race and gender preferences.
Other highlights of the survey:
* 69 percent of men and 73 percent of women support ending race and gender preferences.
* 73 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of Democrats support ending preferences.
* 72 percent of whites, 64 percent of Hispanics and 76 percent of blacks support ending preferences.
* 44 percent of respondents said they definitely would vote in favor of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative. Ten percent said they definitely would vote against it.
Similar affirmative-action bans already have passed in California, Michigan and Washington. Five more states were targeted this year: Nebraska, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri.
Supporters of the civil rights initiatives in Oklahoma and Missouri failed to gather enough petition signatures by their respective deadlines to put the issue before voters.
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.
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