(The Center Square) – Using a small sample of questions, a new poll from Meredith University says North Carolina voters are weaker on state civics than American.
In a release, News Director Melyssa Allen wrote, “Since it is widely reported that Americans’ knowledge of civics is abysmal, we decided to test North Carolinians on their knowledge of U.S. and North Carolina civics. The results demonstrated that North Carolinians know decidedly less about government institutions and practices in the state than they do the nation.”
In the five federal questions, 56% knew the Supreme Court rather than the president or Congress decides constitutionality; 78% chose free speech as the First Amendment protection from the list that included right to bear arms, right to privacy, and right to remain silent; 60% knew Democrats have the majority in the Senate; 72% knew Republicans hold a majority in the House of Representatives; and 91% correctly named Kamala Harris as the vice president.
In the five state queries, a wide response came from the question, “When North Carolina redraws its political maps – for the U.S. House of Representatives and the Legislature – who has to approve the maps?” There were 28% that did not know, 26% thought the Legislature and the governor, and 11% chose the governor. Only 35% were accurate choosing the Legislature alone.
In the other questions, 56% knew the state Board of Elections certifies election results; 59% knew Republicans have a majority in the Senate and 64% knew they held majority in the House; and only 33% correctly named Mark Robinson as the lieutenant governor.
The poll was conducted Nov. 1-5, had 755 respondents, and has a “confidence interval of +/- 3.5%,” a release says. Full results were released on Monday.
The poll led with primary and general election preferences that had little to no change or surprises. Democratic primary front-runner for governor is Attorney General Josh Stein over former state Supreme Court Justice Mike Morgan 38%-11%. On the Republican side of the race, 42% are undecided and Robinson has 41%.
In a proposed matchup, 1-in-5 were unsure between Stein and Robinson, and the attorney general had a 38%-36% edge from those choosing.
In the presidential race, former President Donald Trump has 51% for the GOP primary. In a proposed general election matchup, President Joe Biden clips Trump 40%-39% and 17% saying they want someone else.
