Raleigh, N.C. – Six in 10 unaffiliated voters in North Carolina support the death penalty for first-degree murder, according to a new National Research Inc. poll released today by the Civitas Institute.
According to the live caller poll of 400 unaffiliated likely voters, 64 percent said they support the death penalty in cases of first-degree murder. Twenty-seven percent of voters said oppose it, and eight percent said they have no opinion or don’t know.
Due to a de-facto moratorium on the death penalty in North Carolina, the last execution occurred on August 18, 2006.
“Regardless of political affiliation, voters in North Carolina want justice for victims of murder,” said Civitas Institute President Francis De Luca. “The General Assembly, along with Gov. Perdue, continues to ignore citizens and side with special-interest groups by continuing the death penalty moratorium, delaying executions and enacting legislation such as the Racial Justice Act.”
Furthermore, unaffiliated voters who have moved into North Carolina also support the death penalty for first-degree murder. Voters who lived on the West coast are in support by a 72 percent – 19 percent margin. Sixty percent of voters who lived in the Northeast said they support the death penalty while 30 percent said they opposed it. The margin of support among voters from the Midwest stands at 63 percent support-28 percent oppose.
“Longtime residents and new residents both agree that the death penalty is an appropriate justified punishment for first-degree murders,” added De Luca. “Voters are clearly sending a message to legislators, but are the legislators listening?”
The Civitas Poll is the only monthly live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. For more information on Civitas polling see www.nccivitas.org/media/poll-results/.
Full text of question:
“Do you support or oppose the death penalty for first-degree murder?”
Total Support – 64%
Total Oppose – 27%
Strongly Support – 40%
Somewhat Support – 24%
Somewhat Oppose – 12%
Strongly Oppose – 15%
Don’t Know/No Opinion – 8%
Click here for full results and crosstabs.
This poll of 400 unaffiliated likely general election voters in North Carolina was conducted August 16-18 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in two of the past four general elections or were newly registered to vote since 2008. An additional screening question was asked to filter only those voters having some likelihood to vote in the upcoming 2010 election.
The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 400 interviews (registered unaffiliated voters) will be within +/- 4.9% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in two of the past four general elections or were newly registered to vote since 2008.
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