Debate on the Georgian (U.S.) flag, 2001-2004: Part 4

The 2004 Referendum

Last modified: 2004-12-22 by rick wyatt
Keywords: georgia |
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by Ed Jackson 7 May 2003
Adopted 8 May 2003

• Georgia - 2001 Flag Discussion (U.S.): Part 1  Initial Thoughts
• Debate on the Georgia (U.S.) flag, 2001-2004: Part 2  The Transition
  • The Debate Begins
  • Defeat of Governor Barnes
  • The Polls Begin
  • Governor Perdue's initiatives
• Debate on the Georgia (U.S.) flag, 2001-2004: Part 3  The New Flag Appears
  • The Proposals
  • The Franklin Proposal
  • The Final Flag
  • What size is it?
  • Approval in State Senate
  • The New Flag Flies
• Debate on the Georgia (U.S.) flag 2001-2004: Part 4  The 2004 Referendum
  • The Referendum Approaches
  • The Final Results

See also:

• Georgia
• United States of America

The Referendum Approaches

The Associated Press today is reporting that the never-ending flag issue in Georgia is never ending. As of today a poll shows the following situation:
        In favor of the 2001 flag - 48%
        In favor of the 2003 flag - 39%
        In favor of a third option - 5%
        Undecided - 7%
The poll has a margin of error reported at 4.5%. Voting is on March 2.

Source: WXIA-TV News at http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=43031. At the moment this is the first poll I've seen on the flags since the debates last year.
Phil Nelson 16 February 2004

Today another poll on the issue from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"A poll conducted for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV this week by Zogby International found that support for the blue-and-gold flag was strongest among African-American and younger voters. But a majority of all voters in the survey favored the red-white-and-blue flag adopted in 2003. The current flag was favored 52 percent to 28 percent with 20 percent undecided or liking neither one. Supporters of the present flag worry that its defeat at the polls might revive a campaign to restore the state flag dominated by the Confederate battle emblem which flew over Georgia from 1956 to 2001."

The Final Results

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has declared the referendum to be decided. At this time with 62% of the vote (light turnouts) having been counted the 2003 flag has a 3:1 following and projected to have been selected over the 2001 flag. And given some of the comments earlier this week the flag issue will likely not be revisited by the legislature this term (but who knows about the 2005 session :-).
Phil Nelson 2 March 2004

All counties are in favor of the 2003 flag since the 2001 flag "won" zero counties in Georgia. However is this binding?
Zach Harden 6 March 2004

No it is not. However it is unlikely that anything can be addressed this year particularly as the legislative session rules are specific and the "drop dead" date for legislation may have passed or will soon pass. And there are the "flaggers" that seem to be convinced that no vote should be legitimate unless the 1956 flag (not voted upon by the public) is included in the ballot. Georgia has two options one to retain the current flag (which appears to be a popular idea given the attention it has drawn over the past few years) or to continue the debate forever.
Phil Nelson 7 March 2004

Georgia Election Results
Official Results of the March 2 2004 STATEWIDE ADVISORY FLAG REFERENDUM
Non-Partisan 100 % of precincts reporting

2003 Flag: 577370 votes (73.1%); 2001 Flag: 212020 votes (26.9%)

County by county results:

Source: http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/election_results/

Kristian Söderberg, 19 July 2004