Civil Beat conducted a poll in April 2012 to understand how voters and non-voters differ on key Hawaii issues. If more people voted, would they change the state?

Below are the full questionnaire, issue results, issue crosstabulations, demographics by voter type and methodology.

Here are the stories and editorial Civil Beat published based on the poll:

• Civil Beat Poll – Is Voting a Duty Or a Choice?
• Civil Beat Poll – Can Gov’t Solve Challenges?
• Civil Beat Poll – Hawaii Opposes Gay Marriage, Marijuana, Rail
• Civil Beat Poll – Assisted Suicide Support Strong
• Civil Beat Poll – Hawaii Wants Undersea Cable
• Civil Beat Poll – Does the Government Treat Native Hawaiians Fairly?
• Civil Beat Poll – To Preserve or Develop Hawaii Land?
• Civil Beat Poll – Voters Prefer Bag Ban to Fee

Questionnaire

Issue Results

Issue Crosstabs

Demographics By Voter Type

Methodology

ABOUT THE POLL: Civil Beat surveyed a stratified random sample of 1,162 registered voters in Hawaii on the evenings of April 15-17 and April 22, 2012, using interactive voice response technology (touch-tone polling). The question about the Honolulu rail project was asked only on Oahu.

The sampling margin of error is +/- 2.9 percentage points. The margin of error indicates that in 95 percent of samples of this size, the results will be within +/- 2.9 percent of the actual percentage in the full population of registered voters.

The sample was stratified based on publicly available records of past voting behavior. The stratified sub-samples included 567 Likely Voters (margin of error, +/- 4.1 percentage points), 423 registered Non-Voters (margin of error, +/- 4.8 percentage points), and 172 voters who participated in the 2008 General Election but have not otherwise voted (margin of error, +/- 7.5 percentage points).

Poll results were weighted for gender and to match the population ratio of Likely Voters, Non-Voters, and 2008-only Voters. Statistical differences between the sub-samples were determined using chi-square tests of independence with a significance level of p < .05. All statistical comparisons disregarded group differences in the frequency of “not sure” responses. Some columns may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

The poll was conducted by Civil Beat working with Merriman River Group, a full-service consulting organization specializing in opinion research, election management, and communication.