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Poll: Mike Pence is unknown to most voters

Trump chooses Pence
Special Report: Trump taps Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as running mate 03:45

By Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto

Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Donald Trump's choice for his running mate, is virtually unknown to most voters nationwide. Eighty-six percent of voters are undecided or don't know enough about him to have an opinion.

Even among Republican voters, over eight in 10 are not familiar with Pence. Seven percent have a favorable view of him, while six percent view him unfavorably.

Among conservatives nationwide, nine percent have a favorable view of Pence, while five percent have an unfavorable view.

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An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll of Indiana voters conducted in April found 42 percent approved of the job Pence was doing as Governor, while 41 percent disapproved.

The Veep Choice: How Important Is It?

In a separate CBS News/New York Times Poll, most voters (69 percent) say a vice presidential candidate matters at least some in their vote for president, but just 30 percent say it matters a lot; another third says it doesn't really affect their presidential vote.

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There's little difference between Trump and Clinton supporters on this question.

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This poll was conducted by telephone July 8-12, 2016 among a random sample of 1,028 adults nationwide, including 841 registered voters. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Media, PA. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones.

The poll employed a random digit dial methodology. For the landline sample, a respondent was randomly selected from all adults in the household. For the cell sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone.

Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish using live interviewers.

The data have been weighted to reflect U.S. Census figures on demographic variables.

The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus four percentage points. The margin of error for the sample of registered voters is four points. The error for subgroups may be higher and is available by request. The margin of error includes the effects of standard weighting procedures which enlarge sampling error slightly.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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