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.
