"Unique" voting behaviour by evangelicals may hand Hillary Clinton the victory in next month's US presidential election, a senior analyst suggested on Monday.
Research by the Barna Group found that although Trump held an overwhelming lead over Clinton among evangelical voters, nearly of half said they would not turn out to vote. Another three in 10 remain undecided and one in eight would protest the election by voting for a third-party or independent candidate.
George Barna, senior analyst for the election, said this behaviour by evangelicals is "unique over the course of the last nine election cycles". He added that at present the evangelical vote is at least 20 per cent lower for the Republican than at any of the last five elections.
"While Trump handily wins the conservative vote, and Clinton handily wins the liberal vote, she also triumphs among moderates.
"Although there are more conservatives than liberals among US voters, that difference is not enough to eclipse the benefit she receives from winning among moderates. In addition, Clinton wins the liberal vote by a larger margin than Trump wins the conservative vote, further dampening his potential advantage."
But the Barna group founder insisted the election was too close to call as the campaign entered its final month.
"Clinton is in a more comfortable position heading into the final four weeks of the campaign but with hundreds of millions of dollars of advertising and marketing yet to be spent, plus the ground game of both sides picking up steam and the unpredictability of both the media and the candidates, this is likely to be a fight to the finish."
Support for Trump has plummeted among prominent Christians and Republicans since a recording was released of him making highly offensive and abusive remarks against women.
Wayne Grudem, a conservative theologian who previously said a Trump vote was a "morally good choice", reversed his position on Sunday.
"I cannot commend Trump's moral character, and I strongly urge him to withdraw from the election," the Southern Baptist ethicist wrote. He described Trump's conduct as "obscene" and "hateful in God's eyes".
