Poll: Trump leads Clinton by 7 points in NC

Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton by 7 points in the battleground state of North Carolina just a week before the election, according to a new poll.

Trump leads Clinton 51 to 44 percent among North Carolina voters who have cast their ballot or are likely to vote in the WRAL/SurveyUSA poll. Clinton led Trump 46-44 percent in the same poll last month.

{mosads}Other recent surveys in North Carolina have indicated the race is much tighter, with Clinton holding onto a 2-point lead over Trump in the state, 47-45 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics polling index.

Clinton led Trump 42-41.2 percent in an Elon University poll this week. A Remington Research poll gave Trump a 2-point lead, 47-45 percent, while a CBS News/YouGov poll conducted last week gave Clinton a 3-point lead, 48-45 percent. 

The latest poll found that among those supporting either Clinton or Trump, two in five said they were doing so to oppose the other candidate.

Thirty-eight percent of Trump voters and 32 percent of Clinton supporters said they were voting “with reservations” about their candidate. 

The survey also asked respondents about voter fraud amid Trump’s recent claims that it is a widespread issue. Thirteen percent said in-person voter fraud occurs often at their polling site while another 32 percent said it happens sometimes. 

Those who said voter fraud occurs are overwhelmingly in favor of Trump, the poll notes.

The poll was taken among 659 people statewide Friday through Monday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. 

Shortly after the poll was released, another polling group based in North Carolina, the left-leaning Public Policy Polling, questioned its accuracy:

2 things can be true at once: 1) Survey USA is a good pollster, 2) No Donald Trump isn’t up by 7 in North Carolina

— PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) November 1, 2016