New Poll Finds Eighty Percent of Floridians Support Official English

Four-in-five likely voters desire common language policy for federal government

Four-in-five Florida voters support making English the official language of the United States, including 64 percent who strongly support such a measure according to a new poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. The survey found that the overwhelming majority of Florida residents want the federal government to conduct business in English, including strong majorities of Democrats, Republicans and Independents. The survey of 625 likely voters was conducted May 18-22, 2007 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percent.

“Florida residents continue to have an expectation that new immigrants are on the road to learning English, and they expect that their government will promote English learning among newcomers to the United States,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of U.S. English, Inc. “This has been our history for decades, and it will continue to serve as the model to assimilate future generations to this country.”

Efforts to make English the official language of the United States are pending in both the House and the Senate. In the House, H.R. 997, the English Language Unity Act of 2007, has more than 100 bi-partisan co-sponsors and ranks as one the most widely supported measures in the 110th Congress. In the Senate, Sen. James Inhofe has introduced S. 1335, the S.I. Hayakawa Official Language Act. Sen. Inhofe has also introduced an amendment to the pending immigration bill that would give the United States a national language policy.

At the state level, 30 states have made English their official language, including three states in the last seven months. Floridians passed official English by popular referendum in 1988 with 84 percent of voters casting favorable ballots on the measure. This remains one of the highest margins of passage for any initiative in Florida election history.

“Things may have changed in the last 20 years, but the support of Floridians for official English legislation has not wavered,” added Mujica. “As the 2008 presidential candidates court Florida voters, I hope that they are aware of the strong support for official English legislation in the Sunshine State.”

U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.