Click image for enlargement. Graphic by Mike Johnson.

CARSON CITY -- Ballot measures requiring lawmakers to fund public education before other programs, to raise the minimum wage and to restrict the use of eminent domain all have the support of a majority of voters in the final days before the general election, according to a new poll commissioned by the Review-Journal.

But a fourth measure to allow Nevada residents to possess an ounce of marijuana or less is failing, according to the telephone poll of 625 registered voters Thursday through Monday by the Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Question 7, the marijuana measure, is supported by 35 percent of those polled and opposed by 53 percent. Another 12 percent remain undecided.

Mason-Dixon Managing Partner Brad Coker said the other three ballot measures with strong support should easily pass on election day.

"These are fairly popular issues and they are easy for people to get a handle on," he said. "Support for education, the minimum wage and eminent domain, these are simple concepts most people say yes to."

The marijuana issue may be hurting in part because it is more complex, Coker said. It's not just about allowing the use of marijuana by adults. It sets up a whole new process including taxation, he said.

"Although Nevada sometimes breaks the boundaries at times, and it is a trend setter, the state also has a culture of conservatism in some ways," Coker said. "This may be one issue voters are not quite ready to embrace."

Question 1, the measure requiring the Legislature to fund public education before other state programs, has the support of 54 percent of likely voters. Twenty-nine percent are opposed and 17 percent are undecided. It's the second time the constitutional amendment will be on the ballot. If it passes it will take effect for the 2007 session of the Legislature.

Question 2, which would amend the constitution to restrict the ability of government to take private land through eminent domain, also has 54 percent of voters in support. Twenty-five percent of voters are opposed and 21 percent remain undecided.

Question 6, which would raise the minimum wage by $1 an hour to $6.15 on Jan. 1, and automatically tie future increases to increases in the consumer price index, is supported by 63 percent of voters, with 25 percent opposed and 12 percent undecided.

Supporters of Question 7, which would change Nevada law to allow adults to possess small amounts of marijuana, say they remain optimistic that a majority of voters will back the measure despite the poll results.

Neal Levine, campaign manager for the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana, said the results are confusing because other polls show the measure doing much better.

"It's more confusing than upsetting because it is out of line with the other information we have seen," he said. "Our internal polls show us trending up."

Part of the problem with educating voters about the measure is the lies being put out by the opposition, which is primarily made up of law enforcement agencies, Levine said.

A new radio ad against Question 7 says that employers would not be able to do drug tests, which is not true, he said. The ad says police and firefighters could show up to work under the influence, Levine said.

"Absolutely the measure allows for drug testing," he said. "Our opponents are just lying now."

But Las Vegas Police Detective Todd Raybuck said voters are seeing through the misleading advertising by the Washington D.C.-based group that is pushing the measure.

"Despite spending nearly $5 million, the group hasn't fooled Nevadans with their misleading advertisements that we can solve the drug problem by accepting and accommodating its use," he said.

Scott Craigie, the spokesman for Question 1, the education first measure, said the constitutional amendment has actually gained support since it was first approved by voters in 2004. If approved this time, it will become law.

The measure grew out of frustration by some Nevada residents over the budget and tax stalemate in the 2003 Legislature. Pushed by Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., a candidate for governor, the measure is intended to ensure that public education funding is not delayed by another such dispute.

Craigie said the argument by opponents of the measure, that if education is funded first, then the schools budget could not be augmented if more revenue becomes available, does not hold up. The three major budget bills are all related and all are passed at about the same time, he said.

But because school districts also have some local funding, and can operate without state money for at least a time, the schools budget bill is susceptible to being held hostage, Craigie said. Requiring education to be funded first won't affect its ability to gain more revenue, but it will ensure that the schools budget won't be used as leverage in another dispute, he said.

This is critical because the state has to hire so many teachers from out of state each year, Craigie said. Without the ability to offer contracts in a timely manner, teacher shortages will always be a possibility, he said.

But Terry Hickman, president of the Nevada State Education Association, said the measure is all about sound bites without any real impact. The association has no position on the measure, but without addressing the financial needs of education: full-day kindergarten, teacher salaries and smaller class sizes, it has no real significance, he said.

"Without the word 'fund' it will make no real difference," Hickman said.

Support for Question 2, one of the more controversial measures on the ballot, has dropped off from a poll done a month ago, but remains above 50 percent. The poll done in late September showed 60 percent of voters supporting Question 2, called the People's Initiative to Stop the Taking of our Land, or PISTOL.

PISTOL would amend the Nevada Constitution, making it illegal for state and local governments to force property owners to sell land for use in private projects. Such seizures for public works still would be legal, but they would face new hurdles.

Many local government groups have spoken out against the measure because of the potential for increased costs to taxpayers as the value of land needed for freeway or other public works projects rises under its provisions.

Don Chairez, a candidate for attorney general and one of the backers of PISTOL, said he believes the constitutional amendment will be approved by voters on Tuesday. It will have to be approved a second time, in 2008, before it could take effect.

"I feel confident that the people are smart enough to see through the negative scare tactics the opposition is using," he said. "Even if all the undecided voters go against it, PISTOL will still win."

Chairez said he believes voter turnout will be low because of all the negative campaigning. Those who do vote will be educated on the candidates and issues, and this will help Question 2, he said.

Christina Dugan, vice president of government relations for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, which opposes Question 2, said the group will continue to educate its nearly 7,000 members about the problems with PISTOL.

The chamber supports property rights protections, but Question 2 goes too far, she said.

"There are other solutions to preserving property rights that are fair to taxpayers and that preserve the legitimate ability of government to taken land for transportation and other needed projects," Dugan said.

Las Vegas labor leader Danny Thompson, who worked to get Question 6 on the ballot, said the strong support reflects the fact that most Nevadans value work.

"The minimum wage in Nevada is not adequate," he said. "Congress hasn't acted to raise it. The issue gets bogged down in partisan politics and the working people suffer."

Raising the wage to $6.15 an hour isn't going to doom Nevada's economy, and it will benefit the state by helping working people afford to pay for their own necessities, Thompson said.

But Paul Hartgen, president of the Nevada Restaurant Association and spokesman for Nix 6, said the issue isn't the $1 an hour increase.

"It's the other 700 words in the ballot question," he said.

Not only will the minimum wage rise automatically each year, up to 3 percent based on the consumer price index, but the constitutional amendment also requires that Nevada's minimum wage be $1 above the national minimum wage, Hartgen said. If Congress raises the minimum wage to $7.15, as some have suggested, that will increase the wage in Nevada to $8.15, he said.

Menu prices in restaurants will rise if this is approved by voters, Hartgen said, and once in the state constitution, it can't be changed without another public vote.