US President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump are running neck-and-neck in the November presidential election, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Forty per cent of registered voters in the eight-day survey, which ended on Tuesday, said they would vote for Democrat Biden if the election were held today, while the same proportion chose former US president Trump. This is little changed from Biden’s 1-point lead in the Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on 29-30 April.
According to the poll, which has a margin of error of about 2 percentage points among registered voters, many voters remain undecided nearly six months before the November 5 election.
Twenty per cent of registered voters surveyed said they had not chosen a candidate, were leaning towards third party options or might not vote at all.
Thirteen per cent said they would vote for Robert Kennedy Jr, who entered the race as an independent, if he appeared on the ballot with Trump and Biden. In the previous poll, conducted in April, Kennedy had 8% support.
While the ongoing lawsuits against him challenge Trump, Biden faces difficulties because of his age and his stance on the Gaza war.
When respondents were not given the option of voting for a third candidate or saying they were not sure who they would vote for, both candidates were tied at 46 per cent among registered voters; 8 per cent of respondents declined to answer the question.
Among registered voters who say they are “absolutely certain” they will vote in November, Biden leads by a slim 3-point margin.
In the 2020 presidential election, when Biden defeated Trump, only two-thirds of voters went to the polls.
