Voters split on charter schools, favor legal pot
Massachusetts voters support a ballot measure that would legalize recreational marijuana and are deadlocked on one that would allow for more charter schools in the state, according to a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.
The survey, conducted just two weeks before Election Day, shows likely voters backing marijuana legalization 49 to 42 percent and splitting on charter expansion 45.4 percent to 45.4 percent, with 9 percent of voters undecided.
” ‘Razor thin’ isn’t thin enough,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, reaching for a phrase to describe the tightness of the charter contest. “It’s just amazing.”
Question 2 would allow for 12 new or expanded charter schools per year, and supporters and opponents have poured millions into television advertising — making it the most expensive ballot-question air war in the country, according to a recent analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit journalism group.
The opposition’s advertisements argue that charters endanger funding for traditional public schools. But the poll suggests the campaign has had limited success convincing voters.
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