Connecticut voters oppose ending death penalty

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A new poll shows a majority of Connecticut voters disapprove of how the General Assembly has handled the death penalty, voting to abolish capital punishment for future crimes.

The survey, released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University, shows 51 percent of registered voters disapprove of the legislature's handling of the issue, compared to 29 percent who approve.

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.

Gov. Dannel P. 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.