MARYLAND SURVEY of 500 likely voters

Tuesday, August 9, 2006

1* Now… thinking about the 2006 election for Governor, suppose that Republicans nominate Bob Ehrlich and Democrats nominate Martin O’Malley. If the election were held today, would you vote for Republican Bob Ehrlich or for Democrat Martin O’Malley?

43% Ehrlich

50% O’Malley

2% some other candidate

5% not sure

2* Suppose that, in the race to become Maryland’s next United States Senator, Republicans nominate Michael Steele and Democrats nominate Ben Cardin. If the election were held today, would you vote for Republican Michael Steele or for Democrat Ben Cardin?

42% Steele

47% Cardin

5% some other candidate

7% not sure

3* Okay… what if the Democrats nominate Kweisi Mfume? If the election were held today, would you vote for Republican Michael Steele or for Democrat Kweisi Mfume?

44% Steele

46% Mfume

6% some other candidate

4% not sure

4* Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of:

	Ehrlich	O’Malley	Steele	Cardin	Mfume
Very favorable	25%	18%	20%	17%	20%
Somewhat favorable	28%	37%	30%	32%	29%
Somewhat favorable	27%	19%	24%	23%	19%
Very unfavorable	16%	14%	15%	7%	18%
Not sure	3%	12%	8%	21%	14%

5*In terms of how you will vote this November, which of the following issues is most important… the economy, immigration, government corruption, national security, the War in Iraq, same-sex marriage, or some other issue?

29% the economy

10% immigration

12% government corruption

14% national security

23% the War in Iraq

4% same-sex marriage

7% some other issue

2% not sure

6*How confident are you that ballots are properly counted in most elections and the right person is declared the winner?

26% very confident

37% somewhat confident

24% not very confident

12% not at all confident

1% not sure

7*Should voters be required to show photo identification such as a drivers license before being allowed to vote?

82% yes

12% no

6% not sure

8*Should election ballots be printed in English only or should they be printed in English and Spanish?

54% English only

42% English and Spanish

4% not sure

9*In most elections, are large numbers of people prevented from voting who should be allowed to vote?

31% yes

42% no

27% not sure

10*Okay… in most elections, are large numbers of people allowed to vote who are not eligible to vote?

24% yes

44% no

33% not sure

11*Some people say that America’s political system is badly broken. Do you agree?

57% yes

30% no

13% not sure

12*On a different topic… Should marriage be defined in terms of a union between a man and a woman? Or should marriage be defined as a union between any two people including same sex couples?

54% marriage is between man and woman

41% between any two people

4% not sure

13*Do you believe the Bible literally true?

40% yes

50% no

10% not sure

14* Moving to another cultural issue… on the topic of abortion, do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life?

64% pro-choice

27% pro-life

9% not sure

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.