Poll: Voters Divided Over Death Penalty Repeal

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A new Field Poll shows California voters split over a November ballot initiative seeking to repeal the death penalty.

Just 42 percent of likely voters say they favor Proposition 34, with 45 percent saying California should retain capital punishment. The survey, released Tuesday, found 13 percent undecided.

Blacks were the only ethnic group in which a majority — 59 percent — favored repealing the death penalty. About half the Hispanics surveyed supported keeping the death penalty.

The San Francisco Bay area was the only region in which a majority of voters — 57 percent — supported Proposition 34.

Field and The Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley surveyed 902 likely voters from Sept. 6-18. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.