American voters express disgust over US politics: Poll

An overwhelming majority of American voters are disgusted by the state of US politics, and most view presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as dishonest, according a new poll.

The majority of voters doubt that either of the two main presidential nominees can unite the country after a historically bitter presidential campaign, according to the final pre-election New York Times/CBS News Poll.

More than 80 percent of voters say the presidential campaign has left them repulsed rather than excited, the poll found.

Trump, the Republican nominee, and Clinton, the Democratic candidate, are seen as dishonest and viewed unfavorably by a majority of voters.

The survey shows that Clinton has a narrow advantage over Trump. She has the support of 45 percent of likely voters while Trump has 42 percent.

Support for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson has slipped to 5 percent, and Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, has 4 percent support.

Majorities of voters also say that Trump is not qualified to be president and that he lacks the temperament to serve in the White House, while most voters believe Clinton is untrustworthy and dishonest, the survey found.

The race for the White House has tightened significantly in the past week. While Clinton remains the favorite to win next week’s election, Trump now has a plausible route to victory.

According to a RealClearPolitics average of recent polls, Clinton’s lead over Trump had declined to 1.7 percentage points on Thursday.

The Times/CBS poll began hours after the FBI renewed an inquiry over Clinton’s handling of her emails when she was secretary of state.

FBI Director James Comey told Congress in a letter made public on Friday that his agency was looking into new emails uncovered during an unrelated investigation into former US congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.