As readers of the Cheese Factories blog are aware, we are running a survey on earmarks.  The survey will continue to run for a couple of more weeks: take it here and please pass it on via email, and social media sites like twitter and Facebook.

One interesting finding so far (see table below) is that 30% of our respondents report being a little or much more likely to vote for a member of Congress who pursues earmarks compared to 18% who are a little or much less likely to vote for a member who pursues earmarks.  In our sample 53% of respondents report that the pursuit of earmarks would not influence their vote choice.

In August the Pew Research Center reported that 53% of Americans were more likely to vote for a member of Congress with a record of bringing government projects to the district; 12% were less likely to vote for such a member and 33% said it made no difference.

While our findings and the Pew findings are not directly comparable–e.g. different question wording and Pew’s superior sample (larger and random)–both studies suggest that pursuing earmarks is, on average, a net plus for members of Congress at best, and makes no difference at worst.

Note: This is a non-scientific, non-random sample; any results reported should be considered as suggestive of public opinion but not representative of public opinion. Findings are based on an N=120.