Poll: 24% Want Someone Else Other Than Trump or Clinton
An unusually high number of voters prefer to choose someone else other than Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports polls.
When given the choice among Trump, Clinton or Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, the results are as follows:
- Clinton 39 percent
- Trump 37 percent
- Johnson 8 percent
- Someone else 12 percent
- Undecided 4 percent
That adds up to 24 percent of the electorate who prefer someone other than the two major candidates, which according to Rasmussen is a high percentage at this stage of the presidential race and has remained relatively consistent for some time.
Among those who are unaffiliated with either of the two major parties, 34 percent prefer someone other than Clinton or Trump.
Part of the explanation for the high number of those wanting another candidate might be the unresolved race on the Democratic side, as a significant number of Bernie Sanders supporters are not apparently willing to throw their support behind Clinton in a theoretical poll at this time that does not include the Vermont senator.
On the Republican side, one factor that apparently helps insulate Trump from even lower approval numbers, despite frequent comments that have generated criticism from within his own party, is the public’s perception that the media is biased against him. Forty nine percent hold this view, while only 18 percent say the media is biased against Clinton.
The margin of sampling error for the polls was =/- 3 percentage points.
Meanwhile, a Reuters poll over the weekend shows a different picture, with Clinton opening up a double digit lead over Trump.
According to that survey, 46 percent of likely voters back Clinton and 35 percent Trump, with 19 percent saying they would not support either.
