Arizona Capitol Times Election Coverage Your Inside Track to Arizona Elections
A proposition to make hunting, fishing and lawfully harvesting wildlife constitutional rights in Arizona has nearly equal support and opposition among voters most likely to cast a ballot Nov. 2.
That’s according to a new statewide survey released Wednesday by the Behavior Research Center.
The poll found 39 percent of likely voters support Proposition 109, while 36 percent oppose it, with a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points. The center says the vote traces to sharper divisions in urban counties and among Independents and Democrats.
The results were not as close among registered voters overall at 42 percent yes and 35 percent no.
The poll was conducted Oct. 1-10 through telephone interviews with 555 registered voters, including 405 likely voters.
It’s encouraging that this poll indicates the vast majority of Arizona voters either oppose or are skeptical of Prop 109. Opposition will continue to increase as voters learn more about this blatant power grab by politicians. Voters who read the language (below) will realize that Prop 109 is vague, poorly written, and could open the door for frivolous lawsuits.
It’s a bad idea to take wildlife management away from Game and Fish biologists and hand it over to politicians.
http://www.azsos.gov/election/2010/general/ballotmeasuretext/HCR%202008.pdf
Is there any reason to make hunting and fishing a constitutional amendment? Has the system not been working fine for the last 80 years? Do we really want politicians having exclusive say over our wildlife management in AZ? Are we ready to give up our citizen’s initiative rights? These questions and the vague language in Proposition 109 haunt me and that is why I will be voting NO on Proposition 109 in November.
At quick glance, this measure makes it a constitutional right to hunt, but a closer look at the language reveals a clear threat to our voting rights as citizens. And, the initiative would require professional wildlife scientists to seek permission from politicians to make basic management decisions.
Exercising our voices as voters is the real tradition we should be protecting here. Vote No on Prop 109.