57 percent of young voters say Ginsburg’s death makes it ‘more important’ to vote for Democrats: poll

Fifty-seven percent of battleground state voters aged 18 to 35 said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death makes it more important to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Democratic Senate candidates, according to a new NextGen America poll. 

An overwhelming 91 percent of Democratic women, as well as 83 percent of Democratic men, said they agree with the statement, based on results of a survey the progressive group shared with The Hill on Tuesday

“The Supreme Court vacancy is hitting home how many of our rights are actually at stake in this election and with this court,” said NextGen executive director Ben Wessel.

The focus on the make-up of the court is making young Democrats “even more fired up” to vote for Biden as the party fears possible judicial roll backs to health care and abortion care, Wessel added. 

Ginsburg’s death may also help turnout among what NextGen identifies as “Biden motivation risk” voters, those who say they will go for Biden if they vote but are not definite in their motivation to vote.

Sixty-nine percent of the “Biden motivation risk” voters said Ginsburg’s death makes it “even more important” to vote for Biden and Democratic Senate candidates, based on the poll. 

“These are people that need an extra push to make sure they make it to the polls and vote for Joe Biden. For us, we’ve been saying the stakes have never been higher and now it seems like some of those folks are realizing, ‘holy crap, that’s true,”” Wessel said. 

NextGen’s September poll found 56 percent said they are “extremely motivated” to vote, up 2 points from August and 6 points from July. 

The most recent poll found Biden with a 26-point lead over President Trump among young voters in the battleground states, at 60 percent 34 percent. Democratic Senate candidates led Republicans by 29 points, at 55-26 percent. 

Ginsburg’s death has also galvanized Democratic donors. Democrats raised more than $300 million in small-dollar donations for candidates and progressive causes since the justice died, an ActBlue spokesperson said Monday. 

Despite widespread criticism from Democratic lawmakers over confirming a justice this close to an election, Republican Senators are pushing forward with plans to vote on Trump’s nominee to replace Ginsburg, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, ahead of Election Day.

Some Democrats have said they will not meet with Barrett, but there is little Democratic senators can do to block her confirmation. Nominees only need a simple majority to be confirmed, meaning Republicans can seat Barrett on the court without support from any Democrats.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he will start hearings for Barrett on Oct. 12 with a committee vote expected on Oct. 22. The committee’s timeline paves the way for a full Senate vote before Election Day. 

The poll surveyed young voters across the battleground states of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. 

It was conducted Sept. 15-22 and interviewed 1,000 registered voters. The questions about Ginsburg’s death were asked of 480 respondents, after the justice died halfway through the polling. There is a confidence interval of 3.1 percentage points.