Prescott and Prescott Valley residents deserve a real voice in decisions about automated license plate readers. Right now, public opinion is being judged through council meetings, social-media comments, and assumptions about what residents think. None of those provides a reliable picture of the community.
A professional poll would give registered voters in both communities a chance to be represented, including the people who do not attend government meetings or argue about the issue online.
I received a $3,000 quote from NextGen Polling, and the company agreed to conduct the poll at cost. After the original quote, NextGen confirmed by email that Prescott could be included at no additional cost. That gives us polling for both Prescott and Prescott Valley for the same $3,000 price, essentially two surveys for the price of one.
The proposal calls for at least 600 responses, text-to-web polling using voter-file contacts, and a margin of error under 4.5%. Prescott and Prescott Valley will be weighted separately, although residents of both communities will be asked the same questions.
The poll will cover support or opposition to ALPRs, possible public-safety benefits, concerns about misuse, independent audits, federal immigration data sharing, and whether ALPR use should be increased, kept the same, reduced, or eliminated.
I am organizing the fundraiser, but NextGen Polling will conduct the poll. The questionnaire, methodology, toplines, summary, crosstabs, and all reported results will be made public, even if the results are not what I expect.
Before setting this up, I asked people on Nextdoor whether they would help pay for a professional poll. Up to $925 was pledged. Those were pledges, not money already collected.
Contributions will go toward the $3,000 polling cost and any unavoidable fundraising or payment-processing fees.
This is a chance to replace assumptions with real data and give residents a meaningful voice in a decision that affects the entire community.
Highlights
See all activity6This fundraiser is being organized by Laura Covell in her personal capacity. No political action committee, political party, candidate campaign, government agency, law enforcement agency, or advocacy organization is sponsoring or directing it.
NextGen Polling is the professional polling firm being hired to conduct the survey. The company is not organizing the fundraiser and will not control how the results are presented.
The questions, methodology, and all reported results will be made public, regardless of the outcome. Donating does not give anyone control over the results.
Official NextGen Polling proposal and $3,000 quote
This redacted proposal documents the professional polling scope, methodology, deliverables, and $3,000 cost. NextGen Polling later confirmed that Prescott would be included at no additional cost, providing polling for both Prescott and Prescott Valley for the same price.
The exact questionnaire is being withheld until fieldwork is complete so potential respondents are not influenced. The questionnaire, methodology, and all reported results will be released after the poll closes.
View the full redacted proposal and quote below.View the $3,000 Quote
