Iowa corn poll reveals Iowans want Courts to get out of the business of legislating from the bench

Iowa corn pollYou’ve heard of straw polls, right? The Natural Journey Alliance (NJA) and Iowans for LIFE conducted an Iowa corn poll at our booth at the Iowa State Fair last week.

As people strolled by our booth, they were stopped in their tracks by our sign that asked,

“Do you believe the Iowa Supreme Court should have the ability to create Constitutional law? (or is that the job of the Iowa legislators and the people of Iowa?)”

We offered each adult of voting age a kernel of corn. Then they dropped it into one of three jars labeled “YES,” “NO,” or “I DON’T KNOW.”

The Iowa corn poll gives a glimpse of Iowa

This is far from a scientific survey. Still, it provides a pretty good glimpse into the way Iowans feel about how our state should be governed. Roughly 45% of the Iowa corn poll voters weren’t pro-life and 55% were. As you can see on the chart above, the vast majority want their elected officials crafting the laws that affect our day-to-day lives. In other words, they don’t want the courts usurping the checks and balances written into our Constitution by legislating from the bench.

7420 people voted in the Iowa corn poll at the Iowa State Fair

State Senator, Brad Zaun, stopped by our IA State Fair booth to say hi to Maggie DeWitte and vote in the Iowa corn poll

As background, NJA’s booth in the Varied Industries building at the Fair abutted that of the Meskwaki Casino. Meskwaki had some sort of give-a-way going which generated long lines of people … who then flowed right over to our booth when they finished up there.  In other words, we had big traffic voting in our poll, 7420 Iowans in all, who were there, not because they were pro-life, but because circumstances put our booth next to one people were flocking to win a big prize.

They represent a pretty good melting pot of a state that wants to provide a woman with a three day waiting period before proceeding with an irreversible abortion; and who want to ban abortions when the unborn person in the womb can feel the pain of the procedure.

They represent a good melting pot of Iowans who want an end to abortions at that point when a baby’s heartbeat is detectable in the womb. And they represent pro-life AND pro-choice Iowans.

These folks may not agree on individual pieces of legislation. But they cherish the democratic process. In other words, the Iowa corn poll tells the Iowa Supreme Court to back off and stop legislating from the bench.