New Poll Finds Majority of Floridians Support Zimmerman Verdict

A new poll finds a majority of Florida voters believe a jury was correct last week in finding George Zimmerman not guilty in the death of Trayvon Martin.

Viewpoint Florida released a poll of likely voters in the Sunshine State which shows 56 percent of them believe the jury was correct in finding Zimmerman not guilty while 38 percent believe the jury should have convicted him. The poll finds only 30 percent of Florida voters believe Zimmerman should be charged with a federal hate crime while the solid majority -- 63 percent -- do not think he should be charged at the federal level.

The poll shows a slight majority -- 53 percent -- of those surveyed believe Zimmerman acted in self-defense when he shot Martin. Almost a quarter -- 27 percent -- believe Zimmerman killed Martin due to racism while 13 percent believe Zimmerman murdered Martin but did not shoot for racial motivations.

While Democrats continue to advocate for a special legislative session in Tallahassee to repeal the states Stand Your Ground law, the poll finds 50 percent of those surveyed believe the law is fine as is while 31 percent think it needs to be changed and only 13 percent want it repealed.

The poll of 900 Florida registered voters likely to vote in the 2014 general election was taken on July 18 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.27 percent.