POLL: Smoking ban support polls at 61 percent

Publication Date: 2012-10-26

• Author: Sam Benshoof
• Publication:Grand Forks Herald

North Dakota voters appear ready to approve Measure 4, an initiative that would ban smoking in public places across the state.

A poll of 500 likely voters conducted for Forum Communications found 61 percent of respondents plan to support the measure on the Nov. 6 ballot, with 36 percent opposed and 4 percent undecided.

The measure would prohibit smoking in all indoor workplaces where state law now allows it, including bars, tobacco shops, taxis, motel rooms and private nursing home rooms.

It would also ban the use of electronic cigarettes in public places, and require people to be at least 20 feet away from buildings when smoking. Violators of the ban would be fined $50.

All parties in favor

Along party lines, the poll found that self-described Democrats and independents were more likely to support the measure than Republicans, though a majority of all three groups were in favor of the ban.

Among poll respondents, 70 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of independents and 58 percent of Republicans said they would vote for the measure.

Geographically, support was highest in Cass and Grand Forks counties, at 69 percent and 66 percent, respectively. Sixty-one percent of Burleigh County respondents said they would vote for the ban. In Stutsman County, more than 63 percent of those polled were in favor, though the sample size was too small to be statistically significant...