PIERRE, S.D.(SD News Watch) – A new scientific poll co-sponsored by South Dakota News Watch finds that a majority of registered voters approve of a men’s prison project.

Through the years-long debate over whether and where to build a new prison, opponents and supporters generally agreed recidivism needed to be addressed. With the new prison authorized, new disagreements over prison programs come to the forefront.

According to the poll, which was co-sponsored by the Chiesman Center for Democracy, 68% of registered South Dakota voters surveyed said they approve of the new prison, and 20% said they disapprove of the project. Another 12% were unsure.

The poll also found that a majority of voters of both parties and Independents support the project. Among Democrats, 70% support the new prison, and 66% of Republicans support it.

With Republican voters, a higher percentage (13%) were unsure, whereas 9% of Democrats were unsure. Among Independents, 72% support the new prison, 15% disapproved and 13% were unsure.

Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy conducted the poll of 500 registered voters from all parties Oct. 16-19 using random selections from a telephone-matched state voter registration list that included both landline and cellphone numbers from across the state. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter registration by county. The margin for error is no more than plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.