IGS poll finds support for retaining death penalty

California voters oppose an effort to abolish the death penalty and strongly support a competing measure that would streamline procedures in capital cases, according to a new poll released today by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. Respondents opposed the abolition measure 55.1 percent to 44.9 percent, while three out of four supported the streamlining proposition, the survey found. Since the two measures on California's Nov. 8 ballot conflict, if both should pass, the measure receiving more votes would take effect. The poll used online English-language questionnaires to survey respondents from June 29 to July 18. All respondents were registered California voters, and the responses were weighted to reflect the statewide distribution of the California population by gender, race/ethnicity, education and age. The sample size for the questions on the two death penalty initiatives was 1,506 respondents for one question and 1,512 for the other.