A majority of independents, 58 percent, back a third party, down from 74 percent in 2010. | REUTERS Poll: Support for 3rd party declines

Only 46 percent of Americans believe a third party is needed, after giving the concept majority support over the past two years, and few plan on voting for a third party presidential candidate in November, according to a new poll Wednesday.

In 2010 and 2011, Gallup polls showed that 52 percent to 58 percent of Americans wanted a third party. A similar pattern of declining support appeared before the 2008 presidential election : Backing for a third party had peaked at 58 percent in 2007 before dipping to 47 percent in 2008.


A majority of independents — 58 percent — back a third party, down from 74 percent in 2010. Only 40 percent of Democrats and 36 percent of Republicans support a third party, Gallup found.

Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson , Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode are each drawing 1 percent of the vote, according to Gallup.

The Gallup survey of 1,017 adults was conducted from Sept. 6 to Sept. 9. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the party affiliations Johnson and Goode.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Vivyan Tran @ 09/12/2012 07:55 AM CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the party affiliations Johnson and Goode.