Poll: Georgians Support VLT Gambling to Fund HOPE

A recent poll by 11Alive found that a majority of Georgians support video lottery terminals in a casino-style environment to help fund the HOPE scholarship and pre-kindergarten.

Out of the 1,292 registered Georgia voters polled, 56 percent said they favored the use of VLTs. Widespread support was found across all ages, genders and political parties, including conservatives and Republican voters. Thirty-four percent said they opposed it, and 11 percent were unsure.

Do you favor casino-style VLTs for funding education? Tell us in the comments.

The poll was released Tuesday, a week before the Republican Primary, which features the ballot question, "Should Georgia have casino gambling with funds going to education?"

A similar question is also on the Democratic ballot, which reads, "Would you support Casino gambling in Gwinnett County?"

Atlanta developer Dan O’Leary, who has in the Norcross area that would include VLTs, did not advocate for the question to be placed on the ballot, according to a press release from O'Leary Partners. When the primary ballots were first released, he called the question "flawed" and said it doesn't accurately ask voters about his project.

O'Leary presented the project at the to try to gain the approval of VLT use, but the board essentially shot it down.

“The polls results show what we have known for years: Georgians support expanding the Georgia Lottery to increase revenue for the HOPE scholarship and pre-kindergarten programs," O'Leary said Tuesday in the press release. "Particularly, this poll confirms that support is widespread and would be even more so if the ballot question was asked correctly."

Conducted by SurveyUSA, the 11Alive poll results are:

To view the entire poll results, visit the Web page at 11Alive.com.

What do you think about these poll results? Do you support the use of video lottery terminals in a casino-style environment to fund education? Tell us in the comments.