Rasmussen: Plurality favor ending Senate filibuster

WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Voters say they favor the U.S. Senate ending the filibuster as a way to block approval of a presidential nominee, a Rasmussen poll indicated.

Forty-four percent of likely U.S. voters said they think ending the filibuster is a good idea, while 38 percent oppose changing the rules to eliminate the tactic, results of the Rasmussen Reports survey released Monday indicated. Eighteen percent said they are undecided.

Rasmussen said half of the voters said they think all presidential nominees should get a straight up-or-down vote.

Senators are mulling the possibility of ending the filibuster for presidential nominees, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid threatening to use the "nuclear option" to end filibusters unless Republicans OK seven pending U.S. executive-branch nominees.

In the Senate, a filibuster can prevent a vote from taking place unless 60 senators vote to override it. Some Democrats want to change the Senate rules so that a vote must be held whenever a majority of senators agree, which would effectively eliminate the filibuster.

The nationwide survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Friday and Saturday, the margin of error is 3 percentage points.