By Focus Staff

For this week’s Focus poll, voters were asked the question, “In your opinion, should a person be required to be a US citizen in order to obtain a business license to legally operate a business in Knox County?”

Overall, just over 80% of Knox County voters said they do believe one should be a citizen before acquiring a business license to operate a business in our community.

Almost 84% of men believe in the citizenship requirement to operate a business license, while a slightly smaller majority of women agreed (76.56%).  In reviewing the data from each district, an astonishing 95.83% of respondents in the First District believe citizenship should be a requirement to operate a business in Knox County.  The First District is wholly inside the confines of the City of Knoxville and is largely comprised of Knoxville’s African-American community.  The Sixth District, which runs from Powell to Northwest Knox County, had more than 88% of voters saying they believe citizenship should be required to operate a business.  The Seventh District, which is Halls and North Knox County, saw almost 86% of voters saying they believe in the citizenship requirement.

The district least supportive of the question was the Fourth District, which is Sequoyah Hills and West Knoxville; still, more than 68% of voters believe it should be a requirement for an individual to hold U.S. citizenship before getting a license to operate a business.

Click here to view the poll’s breakdown by percentage.