These are the topline results of a YouGov/Huffington Post survey of 1000 US adults interviewed May 1 - 2, 2014 on the death penalty. The results show that most Americans support the death penalty. The margin of error is 4.4%.
Click here to see full tables and demographic crossbreaks
Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for people convicted of murder?
Strongly favor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36%
Somewhat favor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29%
Somewhat oppose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12%
Strongly oppose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8%
Which of the following comes closest to your opinion about execution methods that should be allowed?
Asked of those who favor the death penalty
They should be as quick and painless as possible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38%
Being quick and painless should not be a priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7%
Opposes or isn’t sure about the death penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35%
Which do you personally think would be worse?
Being executed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33%
Spending the rest of your life in prison with no possibility of parole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18%
Recently, two men convicted of murder who were executed by lethal injection struggled for breath for more than 20 minutes and may have been in severe pain before they died. Do you support or oppose the death penalty for people convicted of murder if this may occur?
Asked of those who favor the death penalty
Strongly favor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26%
Somewhat favor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23%
Somewhat oppose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6%
Strongly oppose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5%
Opposes or isn’t sure about the death penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35%
