Recreational weed proponent casts doubt on poll showing reverse in fortune for ballot measure legalizing marijuana in South Dakota

Sure, he’s seen the poll, but he’s not sweating it.

Matt Schweich, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws’ campaign director, has serious doubts about a survey released on Aug. 24 that showed a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana — again — was losing 54.5% to 43.8% (as illustrated in the graphic above from South Dakota News Watch).

The poll was conducted by the Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy of Florida for South Dakota News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota from July 19-22. It contacted 500 voters registered in the state via cell phones and landlines, and claims a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

“I think the organization that conducted the polls is certainly a credible, respectable organization,” he said. “However, even the best pollsters produce results that are off from time to time. Most polling firms have a 95% level of confidence in their results. That means one of 20 polls is not correct. I think this might be the one out of the 20.”

He admits to being concerned by the top-line number. But digging deeper, he questions the accuracy of its results.

The poll broke the state into four geographic areas, including the Sioux Falls metropolitan area, the rest of East River, the northwest section of the state and the southwest section.

[Read more at The South Dakota Standard]