Ready for Change: A Statewide New York Voter Survey
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Looking ahead to a watershed election year, most New York voters are dissatisfied with the performance of their state government, according to the Empire Center’s statewide voter survey. Large majorities also believe that state leaders are more responsive to special interests, or to their own personal interests, than to the voters’ interests.
By large margins, survey respondents indicated that they were ready to embrace sweeping and fundamental changes in the way the state operates. They also supported constitutional limits on spending by state and local governments. And, defying conventional wisdom, a huge majority agreed that the way to improve schools is not to spend more but to spend existing education funds more effectively.
Conducted by the Siena College Research Institute, the survey was designed to determine New Yorkers’ attitudes toward Albany and their opinions of the state’s future. Questions were also asked about some other current issues, particularly education. The survey sample consisted of 620 registered voters reached by phone in December 2005. The margin of error for the total sample is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
More detailed survey results are presented in the attached report section. A summary and analysis of highlights follows.
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