These are the topline results of a YouGov/Huffington Post survey of 1000 US adults interviewed January 18 - 20, 2014 on the death penalty. The results show that most Americans support the death penalty. The margin of error is 3.8%.
Click here to see full tables and demographic crossbreaks
Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for people convicted of murder?
Strongly favor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33%
Somewhat favor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29%
Somewhat oppose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14%
Strongly oppose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12%
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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43%
They should be as slow and painful as possible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11%
Opposed to death penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8%
Do you think executions should be carried out in private, with only a few people allowed to witness them, or in public?
Asked of those who favor the death penalty
Executions should be carried out in private . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36%
Executions should be carried out in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18%
Opposed to death penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7%
Which do you personally think would be worse?
Being executed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30%
Spending the rest of your life in prison with no possibility of parole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18%
