NJ residents against casinos
An official poll issued today revealed that 70 percent of residents oppose to casinos.
US.- A new Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll released today shows that New Jersey residents are majorly against the installation of two new casinos in the North of the State, outside Atlantic City. Currently, the famous gaming city is the only legal zone in New Jersey for casino developments; however, the government proposed the expansion of the activity to compete with new casinos located in neighbour states.
Two weeks before the public ballot, which will decide the situation of the casino projects, a second poll held by the local University revealed that 70 percent of the registered voters surveyed oppose to the amendment and only 24 percent of residents support it. The opposition against the casino legalisation increased 20 percent since last June, when the institution launched the first poll’s result, showing that 57 percent of voters were against it, whilst 35 percent were in favour.
Furthermore, 36 percent of New Jersey voters surveyed deem the state already has enough casinos and the harm respondents believe they caused to Atlantic City were the leading reasons cited by 26 percent of opponents. “This is an issue we’ve been polling on for years, and there has never been broad and deep support for allowing casinos to expand beyond Atlantic City,” said Krista Jenkins, a political science professor at FDU and the director of the PublicMind polling operation. “It’s no surprise, then, that backers of the amendment are having a hard time selling the idea to voters.”
According to the poll 12 percent fear additional congestion, 8 percent believe casinos bring crime, and 7 percent said they were unsure where the additional casinos would be located. This Thursday, the No North Jersey Casinos Coalition, with support from the Greater Atlantic City Chamber, will host a rally at Kennedy Plaza on the Boardwalk to strengthen the rejection against the ballot. During the rally various local officials, including Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, will speak about the impact expanding gambling could have on the resort. “When over a third of registered voters believe their casino fix is amply satisfied by what’s already here, and worry that more will do to other communities what casinos did to Atlantic City, the ‘more is better’ argument is a tough sell,” Jenkins said.
