Barry Smith - In the Loop

A new poll out on the proposed same-sex marriage ban appears to have the opposite results from a different survey on the issue released last week.

The Civitas Poll shows North Carolina voters supporting the same-sex marriage ban by a two-to-one margin. Sixty-two percent support the proposed addition to the N.C. Constitution which would ban same-sex marriages and civil unions while 31 percent oppose it. The poll of 600 likely voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

Last week, an Elon Poll found that 56 of its respondents opposed the proposed amendment, with 34 percent opposing it.

A major difference in who was polled could go a long way toward explaining why the two polls have such divergent results.

The Civitas Poll interviewed likely voters, defined as people who had voted in at least one of the previous three general elections in 2006, 2008 or 2010, or had registered to vote since the 2010 general election.

The Elon Poll interviewed North Carolina residents without regard to their voter status.

North Carolina voters will decide whether to add the same-sex marriage and civil union ban to the N.C. Constitution on May 8, 2012, when voters go to the polls in the North Carolina primary.

“While turnout in a May primary election is often difficult to predict, this amendment appears to have broad support,” said Francis DeLuca, president of the Civitas Institute.

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