OHIO POLL Voters show support for term limits
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Registered voters are quite happy with the current term limits placed on Ohio legislators, a state poll says.
In the latest Ohio Poll, sponsored by University of Cincinnati, 646 registered voters were asked if they would favor or oppose a constitutional amendment to end term limits for state legislators. Of those polled, 62 percent oppose such an amendment while 32 percent favor one and 6 percent said they did not know.
The poll also asked if people favor or oppose a constitutional amendment to increase the number of consecutive years state legislators can serve from eight years to 12 years. Of those polled, 59 percent oppose it, 37 favored it and 4 percent did not know.
The poll was conducted by telephone from Oct. 24 through Nov. 8, and had an error margin of 3.9 percent.
Declining percentage: Those numbers are down somewhat from a May 1999 poll, the last time the two questions were asked. In May 1999, 70 percent of those polled opposed a constitutional amendment abolishing term limits and 65 percent were opposed to increasing the number of years served consecutively by legislators to 12.
The 2000 Ohio Legislature election was the first to be impacted by the Ohio eight-consecutive-year term limits law, approved in 1992. There has been talk over the years by legislators to seek the abolishment of term limits or extend the number of consecutive years they could serve from eight.
Breakdown: A majority of those polled broken down by various demographics including sex, race, age, education, income, political affiliation, and location oppose both proposals.
The poll showed that more Republicans, 67 percent, oppose ending term limits for state representatives and senators than Democrats, 60 percent. But more Democrats, 62 percent, oppose an amendment to increase the number of consecutive years served by state legislators, compared to Republicans, 59 percent.
Males were more opposed to eliminating term limits than females, 66 percent to 59 percent, as well as more opposed to a plan to increase the number of consecutive years legislators can serve, 63 percent to 56 percent, the poll results show.
Also, more educated and wealthier people participating in the poll oppose ending term limits and increasing the number of years a legislator could serve to 12 compared to less educated and less wealthy people.
skolnick@vindy.com