If elections will be held today, majority of New Jersey residents will vote against the north Jersey casino referendum.
This was according to the latest poll conducted by Rutgers-Eagleton, which concluded that the chances of a new casino jurisdiction in the Garden State don’t look good.
Citing the poll results that were released on Tuesday, NJ.com reported that almost half or 50 percent of voters want casinos to remain confined in Atlantic City. The figures of the anti-North Jersey referendum has increased by a single point from the group’s last survey.
Atlantic City has been the only place allowed to have casino gambling in New Jersey since casinos opened in the city in 1978. According to the poll, voters who welcome a new gambling jurisdiction in the New Jersey had dropped by 4 points to 40 percent.
Meanwhile, three percent of the electorate say they don’t want gambling anywhere in the state while 7 percent remain unsure.
The survey, which was conducted just two months before the Nov. 8 elections, also showed that 58 percent of the voters have thumbed down the proposal, while 35 percent approve, and 7 percent are unsure.
“Eagleton has been polling on permitting gambling in other parts of the state since 1979, and New Jerseyans across a number of demographics have never warmed to the idea,” said Ashley Koning, interim director of the Rutgers-Eagleton poll. “If this pattern continues, there is little hope for the ballot amendment passing.”
Amid dwindling support for the referendum, State Assemblyman and casino expansion proponent Ralph Caputo has introduced a resolution that aims to educate the electorate on plans to expand casino gambling to the northern part of New Jersey.
He recognized that the concerns of New Jersey residents on how much money would the state see when casinos are built in North Jersey and how much casino operators will pay in taxes have not been addressed by casino proponents.
As a solution, Caputo said his resolution will give the electorate a clear picture on where the tax money will go. The taxes collected from North Jersey, according to Caputo, will help revitalize Atlantic City, assist counties, fund senior citizen programs across the state, and support the state’s horse-racing industry.
