A field poll released Thursday showed that Californians are almost evenly split on the subject of capital punishment, meaning the outcome of the November 2016 ballot measures could be won or lost by just a few votes.
The poll found that 47 percent of respondents would like to replace the death penalty with a life term without the possibility of parole.
Meanwhile, about 48 percent said they are in favor of the death penalty and would instead vote to speed up the execution process.
Though drafters and backers of the initiatives are still in the vote-collecting stage, there is a good chance these two warring ideals will come to a head when they both appear on the ballot next November.
However, though the measures diverge on the death penalty, both propose that inmates work in prison and pay restitution to their victims.
The backers of both initiatives have until summer to collect enough signatures.
