Democrats more likely to support third-party presidential candidate: poll

The survey, conducted by Rasmussen, revealed that nearly one-third of respondents said they were at least somewhat likely to bypass Republicans and Democrats in favor of an alternate party.

According to Rasmussen, of the 31 percent of likely US voters who said it was at least "somewhat likely" that they'd vote for a third-party candidate, 12 percent said it was "very likely." In contrast, 32 percent said there was no chance they'd switch allegiances from one of the two major parties.

Democrats were 6 percent more likely than Republicans and 5 percent more likely than independents to answer in favor of a third party, at 35, 29, and 30 percent, respectively.

Responses varied when it came to which side a third-party candidate would impact most. Of those surveyed, 31 percent said it would take votes away from the Republican candidate, while 25 percent said it would hurt Democrats.

Rasmussen found that "partisan voters are more likely to think their own party's candidate will be hurt most by a third-party challenge," with 50 percent of GOP voters and 48 percent of Democratic voters saying as much. Unaffiliated voters were twice as likely to believe that a third-party candidate would have a greater impact on Republicans over Democrats.

Demographically speaking, younger voters were most disillusioned at the thought of having to vote for one of the two major parties, with 58 percent of those under 40 saying there's a chance they'll support a third-party candidate. Just 24 percent of those 40-64 and 13 percent of seniors said the same.

Rasmussen conducted the survey between April 4 and 6 and gathered responses from 957 likely voters across the United States via automated telephone calls and an online survey tool. The poll has a margin of error of 3 percent.