A poll commissioned by the Coalition to Stop Internet Gaming (CSIG), the lobbying group backed by Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson, concludes that 73 percent of Pennsylvania residents are opposed to online gambling.
The study used “robo-polling” company Harper Polling to compile information from 513 respondents to reach its conclusion. Harper uses automated calls to support campaigns exclusively for Republican interest.
“In today’s polarized political climate, three-quarters of people rarely agree on anything, but on internet gambling, the commonwealth’s voters felt strongly and are united,” said CSIG on its website in relation to the poll. “They are deeply opposed to legalizing internet gambling.”
The study evidently was released to try to slow the momentum toward legalization of internet gaming by Pennsylvania lawmakers, including Republican John Payne, who chairs the House Gaming Oversight Committee and is sponsor of a bill to legalize iGaming. Critics, though, immediately assailed the poll’s conclusions.
“Observers, however, have good reason to be circumspect about the methodology used by the pollsters,” wrote Phillip Conneller on CardsChat.com. “First, the amount of respondents in the survey, just 513, represents a pitifully small sample size of a state of 12.79 million people. The results, then, can by no means be said to be ‘clear,’ as asserted by Harper Polling.
“Second, Harper fails to publish the exact language with which each question was framed, making it impossible to know whether respondents were asked leading or balanced questions. The accurate publication of the actual questions posed should be standard practice, and their omission arouses suspicion.”
