Lucas Jackson / Reuters A Gallup researcher believes the stats could have a big impact on the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Nearly a year after the Supreme Court's historical ruling on marriage equality, support for same-sex marriage among Americans age 65 and older is at all-time high.

A 2016 Gallup poll found that 53 percent of Americans 65 and older say they believe same-sex marriages should be recognized, with the same legal rights as traditional marriages. Although it's a 30-percent support drop from 18- to 29-year-olds, it's the first time since Gallup first polled on the issue in 1996 that the majority of older Americans said they think same-sex marriage should be fully legal.

Forty-two percent of the same demographic said they supported same-sex marriage in 2014, up from 14 percent in January 1996.

The rise in support among older Americans is consistent with the statistics across the board. The poll, which was based on telephone interviews conducted earlier this month with 1,025 adults, found that 61 percent of Americans said they supported same-sex marriages, a slight increase from 60 percent last year.

Gallup analyst Justin McCarthy said he believed that the strong support for same-sex marriage across the U.S. will have a major impact on the 2016 presidential election.

"Americans' heightened approval of gay marriage this year makes the issue a fairly straightforward one for the remaining Democratic presidential candidates," he wrote. "Not only do the vast majority of fellow Democrats agree with their stance, but they also have little to fear on the issue from the general electorate."

While Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has a checkered history with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, McCarthy believes that his party's "tapering opposition" to marriage equality makes it "an ideal climate" for the GOP frontrunner.

Pointing to Trump's recent attendance at a same-sex wedding, he wrote, "This is a marked departure from his former primary rival, Ted Cruz, who said he'd never attend a gay wedding if invited."

Head here to read more about the Gallup poll.