A new poll showing a sizable majority of North Dakota voters like the idea of eliminating property taxes isn’t surprising proponents nor opponents of a potential ballot measure.

“I think it’s good to have some validation of where we see things,” said Rick Becker, chairman of End Unfair Property Taxes, which is circulating petitions to get a measure on the ballot.

The poll conducted by David Wolfson, a national pollster for DecipherAi and a lecturer at Columbia University in New York, indicates 70% of primary voters say they would support a ballot measure “ending the property tax in North Dakota.” The poll, conducted Jan. 3-5, included 302 respondents and has a reported error rate of plus or minus 5%.

Becker called the poll a snapshot in time that doesn’t necessarily reflect how election results might turn out.

“It might be a lot higher. It might be a lot lower, depending on the information that comes out or the effectiveness of the messaging of the proponents or opponents,” he said. However, as a starting point, Becker said he considers the poll fairly accurate and possibly even a little low with its support level.

Aaron Birst, executive director for the North Dakota Association of Counties, said the poll question may be too general to reflect voters’ positions.

“I’m not surprised that people think their property tax is too high, but I think people, if they were asked the question – ‘Do you like good schools and roads’ – they would probably say yes. And that might change their mood on whether or not they would vote for a measure like that,” Birst said. “The devil is always in the details of ‘what is the replacement revenue’ or ‘what is the service lost or not lost.’ Those are the more important questions than just a general – ‘Do you like taxes?'”

The county association’s members approved a resolution last year in opposition to a proposed measure to replace local property taxes with state revenue.

The new poll found support for ending property taxes across all demographics and geographic regions. It was supported by 68% of rural voters, more than 74% of men and 65% of women. Among age groups, the greatest support, 72%, was among voters older than 65.

Wolfson’s release of the poll did not indicate who commissioned the survey, and Wolfson did not respond to a request for information. Becker said his committee was not involved and he is unaware of any in-state group commissioning the poll.