The document appears to be a questionnaire for a Civil Beat Poll conducted in June 2013 in Hawaii. It contains 17 questions regarding opinions on various Hawaii and US politicians, recent gun law proposals, ballot initiatives, Memorial Day dates, job performance of the Hawaii governor and US president, and 2012 election votes. It concludes with 9 demographic questions about respondents.
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Merriman River Group
Civil Beat Poll — June 2013 — Full Questionnaire.
1) First, how do you feel things are going in Hawaii—are they generally going in the
right direction or the wrong direction?
2) Do you generally have a positive or negative opinion of Senator Mazie Hirono?
3) Do you generally have a positive or negative opinion of U.S. Senator Brian Schatz?
4) Do you generally have a positive or negative opinion of Second District
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard?
5) Do you generally have a positive or negative opinion of First District Congresswoman
Colleen Hanabusa? [Order of Questions 2-5 rotated]
6) This past December, Governor Abercrombie appointed Lieutenant Governor Brian
Schatz to fill the U.S. Senate seat that was left open when Senator Inouye passed
away. Then, last month, first district congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa announced that
she will challenge Senator Schatz next year in the Democratic primary for that Senate
seat. In the Democratic Senate primary between Brian Schatz and Colleen Hanabusa,
what would you do? Would you vote for Brian Schatz, vote for Colleen Hanabusa, or
probably not vote? [Name order rotated]
7) Now, please think back to the national election this past November. In that election,
what did you do in Hawaii’s contest for Senate between Mazie Hirono and Linda Lingle?
Did you vote for Mazie Hirono, Linda Lingle, or neither of those candidates? [Name
order rotated]
8) And thinking further back, to this past August, there was a Democratic Senate
primary between Mazie Hirono and Ed Case. If you voted in that contest, what did you
do? Did you vote for Mazie Hirono, Ed Case, or neither of those candidates? [Name
order rotated]
9) Now, changing subjects…guns and gun laws have been in the news a great deal in
the past few months. We would like to know your opinion about some recent proposals
to address this issue. First, a bill to make it more difficult for the general public to own
semi-automatic military-style assault weapons was recently proposed in the Hawaii
legislature and might be debated next year. How do you feel about it? Would you
support or oppose a ban on semi-automatic military-style assault weapons in Hawaii?
10) Also recently, a bill was debated and defeated in the U.S. Senate that would have
expanded background checks to include gun sales made at gun shows and over the
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internet. Would you support or oppose a national law expanding background checks to
gun sales made at gun shows and over the internet?
11) And overall, do you think that guns are as important an issue in Hawaii as on the
mainland?
12) Now, one quick question about ballot initiatives. In some states, voters can place
issues on the ballot simply by getting enough verified petition signatures. These might
be initiatives to change laws or to recall elected officials. This system is sometimes
referred to as “direct democracy,” because voters do not need to depend on the
legislature to place issues on the ballot—they can do it themselves. What do you think?
Would you support or oppose a ballot initiative system in Hawaii that would allow state
residents to place issues on the ballot directly, just by getting enough valid petition
signatures?
13) Turning to a different topic…Since 1968, Memorial Day has taken place on the last
Monday in May, creating a three-day weekend for most Americans. But before 1968,
Memorial Day took place on May 30, no matter what day of the week it was. Recently,
Representative Hanabusa proposed moving Memorial Day back to May 30 in order to
encourage more Americans to spend the day honoring military service members. What
do you think? Would you support or oppose moving Memorial Day back to its original
date of May 30, regardless of the day of the week?
14) Now a few more quick questions about politics…First, do you generally approve or
disapprove of Neil Abercrombie’s job performance as Governor?
15) And do you generally approve or disapprove of Barack Obama’s job performance as
President?
16) In the presidential election this past November, did you vote for Barack Obama, Mitt
Romney, or neither candidate? [Name order rotated]
17) And finally, would you generally say that it’s better to re-elect your most experienced
government officials, or would you prefer to elect new people, from other areas such as
business, entertainment, or the media?
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Demographics
· Gender
· Age
· Ethnicity/Race
· Liberal/Moderate/Conservative
· Political Party I.D.
· What kind of telephones do you have? A cell phone? A regular land-line home
phone? Or both?
· Education level?
· Have you, or a member of your immediate family such as a spouse, sibling,
parent, or child, served in the U.S. Military?
· Are you, or a member of your immediate family a member of a labor union?
· Do you have any children or grandchildren under the age of 18?
· Yearly household income