Sep 20, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Poll: 62% say next election winner should pick Ginsburg's replacement

People holds signs and candles as they pay their respects to Ruth Bader Ginsburg near the US Supreme Court

People pay their respects to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Washington, D.C. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images

A majority of Americans, including many Republicans, want the winner of the November presidential election to nominate the next Supreme Court justice, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Sunday.

Why it matters: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said soon after the news of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death that President Trump's nominee would get a vote on the Senate floor. But since then, two Republicans — Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) — have said they oppose holding a vote before Election Day.

  • Two more defections would likely force McConnell to hold a vote in the lame-duck session of Congress. Neither Collins nor Murkowski addressed how they would vote if Biden defeats Trump.

By the numbers:

  • About 62% of American adults agreed the vacancy should be filled by the winner of November's election, according to the poll, which was conducted after Ginsberg's death was announced. About 23% disagreed, and the rest said they were not sure.
  • 8 in 10 Democrats and 5 in 10 Republicans said the nomination should wait until after the election.
  • About 30% of those surveyed said that Ginsburg’s death will make them more likely to vote for Biden, while 25% said they were now more likely to support Trump. About 38% said that it had no impact on their interest in voting, with the rest saying they were not sure.

Worth noting: In polls conducted prior to Ginsberg's death, a majority of voters surveyed preferred Biden to pick the next Supreme Court justice, per the New York Times.

Methodology: The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted online, gathered responses from 1,006 American adults, including 463 Democrats and 374 Republicans. It has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of ±4 percentage points.

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