ARKANSAS, USA — According to a poll conducted by Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College, Arkansas voters are in favor of both legalizing recreational marijuana and seeing changes made to the abortion law in the state.
The poll found that voters in the state supported the recreational marijuana ballot by a margin of 2-to-1, with a "slim margin" of voters who also expressed interest in seeing the state make changes to Arkansas' abortion law.
On the topic of recreational marijuana legalization, the poll found that 58.5% of likely voters were in favor of the initiative, while 29% were against it, and the remaining 12.5% were still undecided.
However, that will only matter if the votes for that issue even count.
"At the end of election night, when they tally the votes, is that vote going to count?" said Scott Hardin, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission. "And will Arkansans ultimately choose recreational marijuana?"
Those in favor of the issue are, of course, all for the poll, and said that it shows that Arkansans are ready and willing to vote in favor of recreational marijuana.
"Nationally, this is polling at around 90%, and most states are polling around 60% of favorability," said Eddie Armstrong, Chairman of Responsible Growth Arkansas.
When likely voters were asked about the possibility of a change to the state's abortion law, it was a closer split.
The poll found that 50.5% thought it should be changed, 43% thought it should remain the same, and 6.5% were undecided.
"If the elections were taken right now, people would indeed vote for recreational cannabis," Armstrong added.
Of those who voted in favor of the abortion law being changed, a majority thought that the change should be made to make it more accessible, with 92% voting to make it easier, 5% undecided, and 3% voting to make it more difficult.
The poll looked at two topics that have remained in the spotlight in Arkansas over the past several months.
“This is an issue that is driving a lot of voter participation in other states. Though Arkansas has a very traditional conservatism towards abortion, our polling observes there is a mood to change current law from its strict one exception to accommodate other exceptions,” added Roby Brock, Editor-In-Chief at Talk Business & Politics.
Hendrix College and Talk Business & Politics contributed to this article.