Most Connecticut voters disapprove of how the General Assembly has handled the death penalty, voting to abolish capital punishment for future crimes, according to a poll released on Wednesday.
The survey Quinnipiac University released shows 51 percent of registered voters disapprove of the legislature's handling of the issue, compared to 29 percent who approve.
"The death penalty is a complex issue for voters, and for pollsters," Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said. "Connecticut voters want to keep the death penalty, perhaps as an option for the most heinous crimes, such as the Cheshire murders."
The same poll shows 62 percent of voters favor the death penalty for those convicted of murder. However, they are evenly split when asked whether they prefer punishing murderers with the death penalty or life in prison with no chance of parole.
"While they want to keep the death penalty on the books, voters are divided on whether they prefer to sentence convicted murderers to death or life without parole. In fact, 74 percent say a life or death sentence depends on the circumstances of the case," Dr. Schwartz said.
Gov. Dannel Malloy is expected to soon sign the repeal legislation into law.
The survey of 1,745 voters has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
