Gallup: U.S. death penalty support drops below 50% for first time in decades

Public support for the death penalty in the United States has dropped below 50% for the first time since 1971, according to a new survey from Gallup .

The survey of 1,200 adults between Oct. 1–19 found that a plurality of Americans still support the death penalty, but the number sat at 49%. It found that 45% oppose the death penalty and 5% did not have an opinion. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Gallup’s findings show a continued decline in public support for the death penalty since 1994 when 80% of Americans supported it. The last time support for the death penalty was at 49% was in 1971, after which public support steadily climbed up to the 1994 peak.

Only three surveys published by Gallup over the last 70 years found public support lower than 49%. This was in 1957 when support was 47%, in 1965 when support was 45%, and in 1966 when support was 42%.

From 1994 to 2026, a substantial decline in support for the death penalty came from Democrats and independents; however, Republican support has gone down as well. In the past 32 years, support of Democrats decreased from 75% to 28%, support of independents decreased from 79% to 50%, and support of…