TALLAHASSEE — Florida voters look close to passing a gay-marriage ban and rejecting a community college tax, and are largely undecided about a handful of property-tax issues, according to a new statewide poll on the state's proposed constitutional amendments.
Regardless of the topic, there's a common theme in voters' preferences: Simplicity, said Brad Coker, pollster for Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. Voters have clear opinions about those amendments that are relatively easy to understand or that have simple titles or buzzwords.
So the ''Florida Marriage Protection Amendment'' garners wide support -- 55 percent for it; 34 percent opposed. And the amendment that would allow local communities to raise the sales tax to help pay for community college is losing by a 37 to 40 percent margin.
"In Florida, 'tax' is no longer a three-letter word,'' said Coker. "It's a four-letter word.''
Yet the poll shows that the electorate doesn't seem to have a strong preference for the amendments that would actually give homeowners or businesses a potential property-tax cut. And that's because of the complexity of the amendments, Coker said.
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