Most Americans think winner of election should pick next Supreme Court justice: poll

Most Americans said they think the winner of November’s presidential election should pick the successor to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to a new poll.  

Sixty-two percent of Americans said the vacancy left by Ginsburg, who died Friday, should be filled by whichever candidate wins the upcoming election, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll released Sunday. 

The poll found that 23 percent of Americans said they disagreed that the vacancy should be filled by the winner of the election, and the rest said they were not sure, according to Reuters. 

The national poll was conducted Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, after Ginsburg’s death was announced by the court, according to the newswire.  

The poll found that 8 out of 10 Democrats agreed the appointment should wait until after the election, as did 5 in 10 Republicans, according to Reuters. 

President Trump has said he will nominate a successor, and Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has vowed to hold a vote on Trump’s nominee. 

Democratic lawmakers slammed McConnell and Republicans for voicing support for a quick vote on Trump’s nominee just weeks ahead of the election, calling it hypocritical since many of the same lawmakers, including McConnell, blocked former President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee in 2016 after conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died nine months before that year’s election. 

Republicans, however, have dismissed accusations of hypocrisy and argued there is a historic precedent for a president to nominate a successor and for the Senate majority of the same party to confirm the nominee. 

Republicans could not afford more than three defections to confirm Trump’s nominee if all 47 members of the Senate Democratic caucus oppose Trump’s pick. 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Sunday that the Senate should not take up a Supreme Court nomination before Election Day. She is the second GOP senator to voice opposition on a vote before Nov. 3, after Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine.) said so on Saturday. 

Neither senator directly addressed in their statements how they would view an attempt to confirm a Supreme Court nominee during the end-of-year lame-duck session. 

The Reuters-Ipsos poll was conducted online. It surveyed 1,006 American adults, including 463 Democrats and 374 Republicans. It has a credibility interval of plus or minute 4 percentage points, according to Reuters.