"facebook Polling" Users Weigh in on Sheriff Controversy

As most of you know, I've been away from North Carolina for awhile, with many positives and negatives as a result. Negatives include icy roads, a lack of sweet tea/BBQ/Cheerwine, and 19-42 hour days. Positives include friendly people, a fun (if taxing) job, and being able to stay out of the Sheriff debacle in Mecklenburg County.

I've heard many different viewpoints concerning the special election, but I've wanted to see how young people back home feel about the Sheriff situation, to gain a more objective viewpoint. Though I made an effort to make the poll as scientific as possible, it has its flaws. Nevertheless, unlike many online polls, facebook Polling allows only one vote per user, does not display results before the poll is taken, and is limited to certain regions. Here are the results:

"facebook Polling" Users Weigh in on Sheriff Controversy

In an online poll conducted by Facebook Polling for BlueNC blogger Sam Spencer, only 17% of respondents in the "Charlotte, NC" network believed that Mecklenburg County Sheriff appointee Nick Mackey should be allowed to take office.

"Should Nick Mackey be allowed to assume the office of Mecklenburg County Sheriff?"

Unsure/Don't Know ( 33% )
No ( 50% )
Yes ( 17% )

MOE: +/- 7.12%
Confidence Interval: 90%

When posed the following question - "Should Nick Mackey be allowed to assume the office of Mecklenburg County Sheriff?" - 50% of respondents replied "No," while 33% of respondents replied "Unsure/Don't Know." The poll was conducted with a +/- 7.12% margin of error at a 90% Confidence Interval.

73% of respondents were aged 18-34. No gender group or age group favored Mackey's assumption of the office, though the statistical significance of these cross tabs is much lower than that of the total results.

The sampling of 100 in the "Charlotte, NC" network spanned a period of 15 hours during peak usage times. The "Charlotte, NC" network is comprised of nearly 100,000 unique users, with a fairly even split between users that identify as "Conservative" or "Very Conservative" (11%) and users that identify as "Liberal" or "Very Liberal" (9%). Almost as many identify as "Moderate" (8%) or "Other (8%). Most users (62%) do not list a political view. The network does not automatically include students who go to college in the Charlotte area, though those users can opt-in to the "Charlotte, NC"- network. Not all facebook users participate in facebook Polling.

Take what you will from the results; I'm just glad to know that about two-thirds of facebook Polling users aged 13-34 are aware of what's going on in my hometown. Maybe, in spite of everything that's happening, there is hope for the future.

UPDATE: The poll doesn't get me cross tabs, aside from gender and age.