WASHINGTON — One-third of Americans think the authorities should attempt a second time to put a convicted felony to loss of life if a first execution try fails, according to a Reuters/Ipsos ballot carried out after a botched deadly injection in Tennessee.

The four-day ballot, accomplished on Monday, confirmed 39% of respondents thought the authorities should instead enable convicts to serve life in jail following a failed execution, while 26% were not positive which was a higher method.

The nationwide survey discovered minority public support for making an attempt again to execute inmates who survive execution makes an attempt, a query Tennessee now faces after Christa Pike, 50, survived two deadly injection makes an attempt last month in Nashville.

Christa Gail Pike, on loss of life row for a slaying, seems in court docket to struggle a conviction in a 2001 attack on an inmate in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 12, 2012. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Emergency automobiles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted on Oct. 1, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. AP Photo/George Walker IV

The convicted assassin was taken to a hospital unconscious following the tried execution, critically sick and with extreme arm accidents after two syringes of the caustic barbiturate pentobarbital failed to kill her, marking Tennessee’s second botched deadly injection this yr. She did not regain consciousness until 5 days later.

Most international locations around the world, alongside with 23 US states, have abolished capital punishment. Those US states that still impose it have struggled in current years to get hold of execution medicine, and some have thought of other strategies, including firing squads.

A slight majority of Americans — 55% — proceed to support capital punishment for individuals convicted of the most critical crimes, down from 63% who said in a 2017 Reuters/Ipsos ballot that they supported the coverage.

Some 31% of respondents in the newest ballot said they opposed the loss of life penalty, while 13% either did not know or did not reply the query.

Christa Pike is escorted from Knox County Criminal Court in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 30, 1996, after being sentenced to loss of life for the homicide of Colleen A. Slemmer. via REUTERS

University of Tennessee forensic anthropologist Dr. Murray Marks testifies about the wounds to Colleen A. Slemmer’s cranium during Christa Gail Pike’s homicide trial in Knox County Criminal Court in March 1996. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The concern has taken on new significance as courts think about whether states can make a second execution try after a failed one.

The US Supreme Court not too long ago allowed a state to proceed with scheduling a second execution date after a failed try.

Kenneth Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, survived a journey to Alabama’s execution chamber in 2022 after jail officers failed to set up intravenous strains.

A lady holds up a signal during a vigil for Christa Pike in Krutch Park in Knoxville, Tenn., on Oct. 2, 2026. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

But Alabama succeeded on its second attempt in 2024 with a new methodology of suffocation utilizing nitrogen fuel.

OPPOSITION TO LIVESTREAMING EXECUTIONS

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth not too long ago floated the prospect of the first-ever livestream of a US execution, the deliberate loss of life by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former US Army main who killed 13 individuals at Texas’ Fort Hood navy base.

Christa Pike’s lawyer, Luke Ihnen, proper, and Randy Spivey, Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction, maintain a press convention outside the Metro Courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 7, 2026. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Following widespread criticism – including from Republican lawmakers – President Donald Trump canceled the livestream plans, though officers still intend to carry out the execution on December 3.

Some 46% of Americans, including 29% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans, said it was applicable to execute Hasan by firing squad.

But 71% of individuals surveyed, including majorities of Democrats and Republicans, said exhibiting executions to the public on tv or the web was inappropriate.