To:       Interested Parties
From:    Perspective LLC and Zata|3 Consulting
Date:     2/2/2011
Re:       Statewide Survey of African American voters in Mississippi

We are pleased to provide you with the second in a series of periodic reports on the opinions of African American voters in Mississippi.  African American voters are frequently under sampled in public opinion surveys, and their opinions are often misrepresented in public discourse.  Our goal is to gain and share insights and inform public policy and opinion makers of the opinions of this important segment of our electorate. The survey instrument was jointly developed by Pamela Shaw and Brad Chism.  We also underwrote the cost of the research.  This survey was not conducted on behalf of any candidate or organization.

Methodology: IVR survey technology was used to complete 600 surveys on February 1, 2011.  All respondents were pre-screened as African American registered voters.  The survey results were gathered from each of the four congressional districts in proportion to the African American voter concentration in the state.  CD1: 18%; CD 2: 43%; CD3: 24%; CD 4 15%.  The survey has a margin of error of 4.0%.

This week’s survey focused on the issue of Illegal Immigration and the legislation under consideration in the State legislature.

Survey Highlights:

• Disagreement on Illegal Immigrants’ Burden on MS Taxpayers. When asked about whether most illegal immigrants are working or living off government aid, a plurality of African American Mississippians are unsure.  The rest are about equally divided in their opinions.

• Divided on Whether to Let Feds Handle Immigration Issues. 48% believe that state government should stay out of the issue while 33% believe a new state law is needed.

• Competition for Jobs Top Concern. 39% of African Americans say their biggest concern about illegal immigrants is their displacement of the legal workforce.  However, almost as many (36%) can’t decide on a reason why we should get tough on illegal immigration.  Very few feel that illegals are a security threat (14%) or a threat to clean elections (12%).

• Uneasiness about Potential Abuse by Law Enforcement. When asked whether the new law would give too much leeway for harassment of law abiding Latino citizens or whether the problem was so bad it was worth the risk, African Americans by more than a 2:1 margin expressed concern that law enforcement officials would abuse their power. About a third of those surveyed were unsure.

• Getting Tough on Employers of Illegal Immigrants. A plurality of African Americans support prison terms for employers who hire illegal immigrants and more than a third agree that employers deserve stiff fines, if not prison terms. Fewer than one in five agree that focusing on illegal workers will fix the problem.

• Better Days Ahead! 53% of African Americans believe that Mississippi’s best days are ahead – a slight drop in optimism from the survey two weeks ago. 27% of the remaining African Americans are unsure and 20% believe their  best days are behind..

• Optimism About Personal Financial Situation.  60% of African Americans in the state expect their own personal financial situation to be better a year from now.  This optimism measure is about the same as two weeks ago.

The top lines of the survey are shown below.  We caution readers that opinions on nearly all these questions are likely to shift as the political year heats up in Mississippi. Additionally, the number of surveys by geographic or demographic cluster may be too small to draw sweeping conclusions.

About IVR Surveys. Independent analyses from publications such as the Wall Street Journal, National Council on Public Polls, American Association of Public Opinion Research, Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.com, and The Pew Research Center all show automated, recorded voice surveys used to record candidate preferences have an accuracy level comparable to live interviewer surveys.

About The Survey Sponsors.    Perspective, LLC is a joint venture between Pamela Shaw and Zata|3 Consulting.  Pamela Shaw is a Mississippi-based government relations consultant serving progressive clients in the mid south. Zata|3 Consulting is a Washington, DC-based advocacy firm serving Democrats and progressive causes across the United States. Zata|3 clients in Mississippi include candidates seeking federal, state and local elections.   Brad Chism is the partner in charge of this project for Zata|3.  The company website is www.zata3.com.

For more information, contact:

Pamela Shaw shawpamela at bellsouth dot net - 601.316.0176.

Brad Chism brad at zata3 dot com - 202.386.6024