Most don’t trust Supreme Court on election cases: Poll

Most Americans say they don’t have much confidence in the Supreme Court to make the “right decisions” on legal cases related to the 2024 election, according to a CNN poll released Monday.

Asked how much they trust the Supreme Court on the matter, 58 percent of respondents said either “not at all” or “just some,” at 23 percent and 35 percent, respectively. Only 11 percent said they trusted the Supreme Court “a great deal,” while 31 percent said “a moderate amount.”

The poll, which was conducted Jan. 25-30, showed a slight partisan split in trust in the Supreme Court to deal with 2024 election cases.

Among Democrats, 63 percent of respondents had either no trust at all, at 27 percent, or just some trust, 36 percent. The poll found higher opinions of the court amongst Republicans, 48 percent of whom said they had either no trust, 17 percent, or just some trust, 31 percent. Independents held similar views to Democrats.

The Supreme Court could play an important role in the 2024 presidential campaign cycle, as former President Trump solidifies his spot as the GOP front-runner despite facing four criminal indictments, two of which are related to his efforts to stay in power in 2020 after losing the presidential election.

In a federal case related to the 2020 election, Trump’s legal team has argued presidential immunity should preclude him from prosecution for actions he took while in the White House. If a federal appeals court does not side in his favor, Trump is expected to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is also expected to hear arguments this month in a challenge to the Colorado Supreme Court decision that Trump is ineligible to hold public office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, known as the “insurrection clause,” over his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, and in the days leading up to it.

The CNN poll surveyed 1,212 respondents and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.