Poll: New Yorkers oppose Spitzer's license plan
11:16 AM EDT, October 15, 2007

ALBANY, N.Y.

A majority of New York voters who know of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to allow illegal aliens to get driver's licenses oppose the idea, according to poll results released Monday.

Only 22 percent of voters supported the plan, while 72 percent are opposed, the Siena Research Institute reported.

The poll asked voters if the "change would allow illegal aliens to obtain a New York driver's license, posing a national security risk." Sixty-four percent of voters agreed.

Siena also asked voters if they think "this change will significantly reduce the number of unlicensed drivers, resulting in lower auto insurance costs for all New Yorkers." Only 25 percent agreed, while 66 percent disagreed and 10 percent didn't know or had no opinion.

"The voters' message to the governor is clear: `No, no, no,"' Siena spokesman Steven Greenberg said. "Opposition to the Spitzer proposal is intense, with 41 percent strongly opposing it and only seven percent strongly supporting it."

The poll also found that Spitzer's approval rating is the lowest it's been since he took office, but overall it's still positive. Fifty-four percent of those polled said they had a favorable opinion of the governor, while 36 percent view him unfavorably and 10 percent didn't know or had no opinion.

When he took office in January, Spitzer had a 75 percent approval rating, while 10 percent of voters disapproved of him.

When asked to consider a 2010 election for governor between Spitzer and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the poll found that Bloomberg would win 50 percent of the vote and Spitzer would have only 37 percent if the election was held today.

Siena polled 620 registered voters by phone between Oct. 7-10. The poll has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.

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