Almost Half of Pastors Still Undecided about Election

Four out of 10 Protestant pastors say they are undecided about who they will vote for in the presidential election next month, according to the latest LifeWay research survey.

LifeWay polled 1,000 pastors on their vote decision starting Aug. 22 through September 16.

One-third (32 percent) said they plan to vote for Republican Donald Trump and 1 in 5 (19 percent) said they support Democrat Hillary Clinton. Four percent indicated they will vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson and 3 percent said they will not vote.

Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, noted that "undecided" is the most common choice right now.

"Donald Trump does better with pastors than Hillary Clinton," he said. "But both candidates are still less popular than 'undecided.'"

Researchers did find broad support for voting. Eighty-eight percent of the pastors surveyed say Christians have a biblical responsibility to go to the ballot box.

However, most pastors don't believe that all Christians will vote the same way. Two-thirds (65 percent) disagree with the statement "Christians who truly vote their conscience will vote for the same candidate."

The majority of pastors (98 percent) also indicated that they have not endorsed a candidate during a church service this year.

Trump is currently backing a movement to repeal the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 law which prohibits churches from supporting candidates or campaigning from the pulpit.