Gonzales poll shows slots are losing favor BALTIMORE (wesm) - Forty-nine percent of Maryland residents surveyed would vote for the constitutional amendment to authorize slot machines in the state, a recent poll says.

According to the survey released Tuesday by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies, 43 percent said they would vote against the slots amendment; eight percent were undecided.

The pollsters said those numbers have dropped five points since January, when 54 percent of those polled said they would vote to allow slot machines.

The survey was conducted by Gonzales from Aug. 29 through Sept. 5. Eight hundred thirty-three registered voters in Maryland who indicated they will likely vote in November's general election were interviewed by telephone. The poll has an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The slots referendum, if approved, would allow up to 15,000 slot machines at five locations in the state.

Fifty-three percent of men support slots, compared with 45 percent of women. And 52 percent of independents and half of voters from the Washington suburbs surveyed said they will vote against the amendment.

The poll showed 45 percent approve of the job Gov. Martin O'Malley is doing. That's up eight points from March. Thirty-five percent disapprove (down 13 points from March); and 20 percent gave no answer.

The Bay Bridge, which was the scene of a fatal accident last month, troubled the residents surveyed. Seventy-eight percent view the issues, including safety inspections and repair work, surrounding the Bay Bridge as a problem; 40 percent of those said they're a "big problem."

In the presidential election, the poll showed Maryland voters favored Barack Obama 52 percent to John McCain's 38 percent. Ten percent were undecided. Eighty percent of Democrats back Obama and 87 percent of Republicans support McCain.

Fifty-one percent have a favorable opinion of Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, compared with 35 percent having a favorable opinion of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Forty-two percent said the economy is the most important issue facing the state; 12 percent said it was taxes, 10 percent named education, and eight percent pointed to health care. Only six percent cited the cost of gasoline.
© Copyright 2009, wesm