Half in New Poll Say Winner of November Election Should Replace Ginsburg

Fifty percent of respondents in the Politico/Morning Consult poll released Tuesday said the winner should replace Ginsburg “since the election is fewer than 50 days away.” By comparison, 37 percent said President Trump should immediately appoint her replacement “since he is the current president.” Twelve percent did not have a preference, according to Politico.

The poll found a sharp partisan split, with 79 percent of Democrats saying the winner of the election should make the appointment versus 71 percent of Republicans who said Trump should make it now. Forty-nine percent of independents said the election winner should appoint Ginsburg’s replacement while 31 percent of independents said Trump should appoint a new justice before the election, The Hill reported.

The poll is the third since Ginsburg’s death on Friday indicating that a plurality or majority of voters support waiting until after the election to name her replacement. Sixty-two percent of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll said the winner of the election should make the appointment, although 46 percent answered a separate question saying Trump should make the appointment before the end of his term. The right-leaning pollster Rasmussen Reports found 51 percent support for allowing the winner of the election to make the appointment.

After the February death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016, most polling indicated majority support for allowing Senate hearings for President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland. Scalia died 269 days before Election Day, while Ginsburg died with 46 days to go until the 2020 election.

Both Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who did not allow hearings on Garland in 2016, have said they will move forward on a nomination.

Pollsters surveyed 1,989 registered voters between Sept. 18-20. The results have a margin of error of 2 percentage points.