Over half of Americans ‘alarmed’ about presidential election: Poll

Washington: Over half of the respondents in a recent US poll said they were “alarmed” over the upcoming presidential election, with most still deciding on which candidate to choose to lead the nation.

The poll by Suffolk University released on Tuesday showed that 46 per cent of respondents held a favourable attitude towards Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and 47 per cent unfavourable, Xinhua news agency reported.

For Clinton’s Republican rival Donald Trump, 61 per cent have an unfavourable attitude compared with 31 per cent favourable.

Forty-nine per cent of respondents said they would vote for or lean toward Clinton, with 39 per cent for Trump and another 10 per cent undecided on their vote.

Fourty-three per cent of respondents, felt “scared” about the idea of Trump eventually winning the election, according to the poll.

It also found that 58 per cent of the respondents thought the divisions inside the US were deeper than the past, and 54 per cent are worried that the country was headed in the wrong direction.

Poll results from Fox, CNN and MSNBC provided people’s divided viewpoints on the two presidential candidates.

In stark contrast to the Suffolk University poll, 83 per cent of Fox respondents said they would vote for Trump, while 77 per cent of CNN respondents and 94 per cent from MSNBC chose Clinton.

The 2016 presidential election, with all its twists and turns like Clinton’s trust issues and accusations on Trump’s sexual misconduct, is believed to be one of the most contentious races yet to the Oval Office.