Washington, USA - Some 43 percent of Americans wouldn't even consider voting for a Mormon for president, according to a recent poll that shows an increase from previous surveys in the number of voters unwilling to support a Latter-day Saints candidate for the White House.
The poll is bad news for Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon Republican expected to make a 2008 presidential bid. Previous polls have shown a smaller share of Americans saying they would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate.
The Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg in June found 37 percent of those surveyed wouldn't vote for a Mormon while other surveys from the late 1990s showed about 20 percent were opposed to a candidate from that faith.
Some 38 percent in the Rasmussen Reports poll said they would consider voting for a Mormon, while 19 percent were unsure. Of those who identified themselves as evangelicals, 53 percent said they wouldn't consider voting for a Mormon candidate.
The poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Nov. 16-17 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Romney's political action committee, the Commonwealth PAC, declined to comment on the poll.