Mainers still oppose King’s laptop computer plan, poll finds

PORTLAND – A new poll indicates that most Mainers oppose Gov. Angus King’s plan to spend $50 million for laptop computers for seventh- and eighth-graders, but the opposition was not as great as in a similar poll nearly a year ago.

Of the 400 people interviewed in the Strategic Marketing Services Omnibus Poll early this month, 59 percent opposed King’s plan, 32 percent favored it and 8.5 percent were unsure.

The level of respondents who oppose King’s laptop plan decreased more than 8 percentage points since a poll last March. That poll showed that 68 percent were opposed.

The latest poll found that opposition to laptops was strongest in northern and eastern Maine and among Mainers with higher incomes.

The Omnibus Poll touches on a broad range of business, economic and public policy issues. The statistical margin of error is plus or minus 5 percent.

The poll showed that 60 percent of respondents have a personal computer in their household, the highest level recorded to date. Nearly 76 percent of those who have a PC are currently linked to the Internet at home.

Mainers generally support legislation that would make it tougher to initiate referendums, the poll found.

A bill to force signature collectors to disclose whether they were being paid got 67 percent backing, while 65 percent favored a bill that would prevent failed referendums from surfacing for six years.

About half would support a bill to require more signatures in order to schedule a referendum, the survey showed.