Voters disapprove of eminent domain use

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Tabular Results
Survey Details

A year after the Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. New London, which expanded the acceptable use of the eminent domain power, voters in New Jersey remain aware of the government's use of the power, and continue to disapprove of that use in most circumstances.

According to the results of Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind poll, 51% of New Jersey voters have heard a “great deal” about eminent domain, and only one-quarter say that they have heard “just a little” or “nothing” about it. This is actually slightly higher than the percent that said they had heard a “great deal” about the issue one year ago, immediately after the controversial Supreme Court decision.

Voters' support of the use of eminent domain power is highly contingent on what sort of property is being taken by the government. Only 5 percent support the seizure of middle class housing in order to build upscale shops, while 90 percent of voters say this use of eminent domain is unacceptable. On the other hand, voters were most likely to support the state's use of eminent domain to replace dilapidated properties with better housing and shops: 47% approve of this use, while 45% disapprove.

Meanwhile, 28% think that taking houses and shops to construct buildings for public use such as a new school is and acceptable application of eminent domain, but 64% say this is unacceptable.  And only 16% say it is acceptable to take active farmland for public use such as building a new school or ball field.

“This issue has staying power,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University and a survey analyst for PublicMind. “In a crowded state with pressure for development, pressure for redevelopment, and pressure for conservation there is bound to be conflict.”

The PublicMind survey was underwritten by the New Jersey Farm Bureau and conducted by telephone from Oct. 25 through Oct. 31 using a randomly selected sample of 577 likely voters statewide. The sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence.

Contacts:

Peter Woolley 973.670.3239; Dan Cassino 973.896.7072

For more information, please call (973) 443-8661.