Is the TSPLOST Ballot Preamble Biased?

On July 31, voters in Buckhead and the rest of the 10-county metropolitan region will cast their ballots on the Transportation Investment Act to decide whether to establish a one-cent special

The phrasing of the ballot question's preamble has been criticized for being biased.

It reads: "Provides for local transportation projects to create jobs and reduce traffic congestion with citizen oversight"

Attorney Pitts Carr told WSB-TV, "Create jobs? Stop congestion? Who wouldn't vote for that?"

The attorney has been hired by referendum opponents to find out how that language, which was OK’d by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, was approved for the ballot when it was not part of the original law.

What do you think? Is the TSPLOST ballot preamble biased? Tell us in the comments below.

It is now less than four weeks until metro Atlanta residents head to the polls to vote on a referendum that will fund more than $6 billion in transportation improvements through a regional sales tax.

And by the results of a recent poll, the proposed tax is losing steam as the referendum voting date approaches. A poll by Rosetta Stone Communications for WSB-TV last week showed that only 38 percent of voters surveyed in the 10-county metro region are in favor of the sales tax.

That is down four percentage points from a late May polling. That month, 45 percent of those surveyed were opposed the new sales tax and last week’s numbers indicated that now 49 percent are against it.

The most recent survey showed that Fulton and DeKalb voters combine for 50 percent 'for' and 32 percent 'against' the tax. But the other eight counties - Cobb, Cherokee, Clayton, Douglas, Fayette, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale – are against it. 

How will you vote?