Advocates for a ballot measure to tax the rich to balance the state budget released results of an online survey that indicated Coloradans might go for it in November.

The online statewide survey indicated 56% of those who took the survey were sure they would vote for it in November, and 28% plan to vote no, while 16% haven’t made up their minds.

The concept of asking the rich to pay more, however, had the support of 69%, with just 18% in opposition and the rest undecided. Support is up from 61% in a similar survey in February conducted by the group behind the proposed ballot question, Fair Tax Colorado.

Initiative 271 would give people making below $250,000 a year a tax cut by raising taxes on a those who make above the quarter-million-dollar mark.

Coloradans currently pay a 4.63% income tax rate. Initiative 271 would lower the rate to 4.58% for those earning less than $250,000 and raise it to 7% on earnings above that up to $500,000.

Efforts to raise tax rates haven’t fared well in Colorado in recent years.

The proposal would raise an estimated $2 billion a year, which is the least amount of damage lawmakers are expecting the coronavirus shutdown to inflict on the state budget.

“This poll shows Coloradans of all walks of life agree a fair tax system is the right way to respond to the COVID-19 crisis,” Abby Vining of the Fair Tax Colorado campaign said in a statement Sunday afternoon. “Giving 95% of Coloradans much-needed relief in the form of a tax cut while simultaneously protecting our communities from budget cuts is something that can bring our state together and help us come back stronger.”

To get on the November ballot, advocates must collect 124,632 signatures from registered voters.

The online poll of 600 likely voters was conducted May 1-3 by Chris Keating of Keating Research. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Online surveys are determined to be not as reliable as telephone polling. The Pew Research Center states they “do not have a proven record of accuracy.”

“There are at least two reasons for this,” the center reported. “One is that not everyone in the U.S. uses the internet, and those who do not are demographically different from the rest of the public. Another reason is that people who volunteer for polls may be different from other people in ways that could make the poll unrepresentative. At worst, online polls can be seriously biased if people who hold a particular point of view are more motivated to participate than those with a different point of view.”