A new Los Angeles Times poll of reg­is­tered vot­ers in California showed a dra­mat­ic increase in sup­port of Proposition 34, a bal­lot mea­sure that would replace the death penal­ty with life with­out parole, sav­ing the state tens of mil­lions of dol­lars annu­al­ly. The sur­vey, con­duct­ed October 15 – 21, showed more respon­dents sup­port­ing repeal of the death penal­ty (45%) than those want­i­ng to keep it (42%) when they were giv­en infor­ma­tion about the mea­sure’s finan­cial impact and effect on pris­on­ers. Eleven per­cent were unde­cid­ed. These results were an exact rever­sal of the Times ear­li­er poll that showed more vot­ers oppos­ing the Proposition. Both this poll and the ear­li­er poll also asked vot­ers about Proposition 34 with­out includ­ing its finan­cial impact. Although slight­ly more respon­dents opposed repeal with this short­er ques­tion, the gap between oppo­nents and sup­port­ers shrunk from 13% in September, to a sta­tis­ti­cal tie in October (45% to 42%). The mar­gin of error for the poll was 2.9%. The most recent poll was tak­en before a flur­ry of TV ads in sup­port of Proposition 34 began run­ning in the state. According to California’s leg­isla­tive ana­lyst, pas­sage of Proposition 34 would save the state $130 mil­lion per year. Although California has the largest death row in the coun­try, it has not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion in almost 7 years, and has exe­cut­ed 13 inmates since 1978.

(M. Dolan and J. Leonard, ​“Support for end to California death penal­ty surges,” Los Angeles Times, October 26, 2012). See Public Opinion and Recent Legislative Activity.

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