According to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey released Friday, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton are tied nationally.
But the poll also found that nearly a quarter of voters said they would rather stay at home or vote for a third party candidate than vote for either candidate in a general election.
A general election matchup poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted on Monday, April 25 and Tuesday, April 26, found that Trump and Clinton both scored 38 percent among likely voters.
Twenty-four percent of respondents among the likely voters said they would vote for neither Trump nor Clinton.
A breakdown of the 24 percent of respondents who said that they would vote for neither Trump nor Clinton showed that about 16 percent said they would vote for another candidate while six percent said they would simply stay at home on election day.
Two percent were undecided.
The poll also matched the two candidates to see how they fared among different demographic groups.
Clinton fared better in the survey among women by six percentage points. Forty-one percent of female respondents said they would vote for Clinton while 35 percent favored Trump. Fifteen percent said they would vote for another candidate while seven percent said they would stay at home.
Trump fared better among men also by six percentage points. Forty-one percent of male respondents supported Trump while 35 percent supported Clinton. Sixteen percent said they would vote for another candidate while five percent said they would stay at home.
Rasmussen noted that despite widely held views that Trump has a problem among women, the poll found that both sexes were about equally likely to say they would stay home or choose a third party candidate if both candidates emerge for their respective parties in the general election.
The estate mogul fared better among older voters, but younger people aged 18 to 39 favored Clinton by 15 percentage points.
Voters under 40 were found to be about twice as likely as older voters to say they would vote for a third party candidate or stay home if Clinton and Trump were the nominees.
White voters favored Trump by 11 percentage points. Forty-three percent of white voters favored Trump while 32 percent favored Clinton. Fifteen percent said they would vote for another candidate while five percent said they would stay at home.
Black voters preferred Clinton by an overwhelming 39 percentage points. Fifteen percent said they would vote for another candidate while ten percent said they would stay at home.
The survey found that other racial minorities — Asians, Hispanics etc — preferred Clinton by 16 percentage points.
Comparing the two candidates on party basis, the poll found that 75 percent of Democrats said that if Clinton becomes the party’s nominee they would vote for her while 11 percent of Democrats said they would vote for Trump.
On the other hand, 66 percent of Republican voters said they would vote for Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee while 10 percent of Republican respondents said they would vote for Clinton.
Independent voters favored Trump by a margin of five percentage points.
The survey also found that lower income earners — people earning below $30,000 — preferred Clinton. Higher income voters — people earning over $100,000 — also preferred Clinton but people in the middle-income group earning between $30,000 and $100,000 preferred Trump.
Better educated voters supported Clinton by a significant margin.
The poll found that 44 percent of voters said they wished to see the emergence of a truly competitive third party, compared with 58 percent in 2007.
The latest Rasmussen poll appears to contradict a recent USA Today /Suffolk University general election matchup released April 25 which found Clinton leading the Republican opponent by 50-36 percentage points.
[Photo By Carolyn Caster/AP]