Almost half (49%) of registered voters believe that the Senate should not confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court before the results of the presidential election are known — but two-thirds (68%) think it will, according to a new YouGov snap poll conducted after President Donald Trump announced her as his Supreme Court nominee.
The overwhelming majority of Republicans (86%) believe the Senate should confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court before the election, while Democrats are almost equally sure it should not (81%). Although Independents are split on the issue, more think the Senate should not confirm (49%) than believe it should (39%).
The number of voters who do not want Barrett confirmed before the election (49%) shows little change from a YouGov snap poll carried out after Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s death was announced, which showed that 51% of registered voters said the Senate should not confirm a new member of the Supreme Court before the results of November’s election are known.
Three-quarters (74%) of registered voters say their minds are made up about whether Amy Coney Barrett should be confirmed even before hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee begin. Just 14% say they could still change their mind.
Despite around half thinking that the Senate should not confirm her, two-thirds (68%) believe her nomination will ultimately be passed. Majorities of both Republicans (81%) and Democrats (67%) think she will be confirmed by the time the election result is declared. Just 11% of registered voters think it will not, a view that is almost as equally shared by Republicans (8%) and Democrats (10%).
About two in five (38%) registered voters have a positive opinion of Amy Coney Barrett before her confirmation hearings begin. The poll shows that 29% have a very positive view of the prospective justice, and 9% have a somewhat positive view of her. This compares to 23% who have a very negative view of the nominee and 10% who hold a somewhat negative position. Nearly one in five (19%) say they have never heard of Barrett.
Republicans hold overwhelmingly positive views of her (77% versus 2% negative) while Democrats hold overwhelmingly negative views of the recently revealed nominee (61% versus 10% positive). More Independents have a positive view of the prospective justice (35%) than have a negative view (25%), but they are far more likely than supporters of the two major parties to have not heard of her.
The snap poll shows that voters want the next Supreme Court justice to uphold both the Affordable Care Act (51%), as well as Roe v. Wade (52%). However, over two-thirds of Republicans (69%) want the Affordable Care Act overturned while than half (43%) say they want Roe v. Wade overturned.
See the toplines and crosstabs from this YouGov Poll
Methodology: This article is based on a flash poll of 1,000 registered voters surveyed via YouGov Direct on September 26, 2020 between 5:07 and 6:43. This YouGov Direct Poll was weighted according to age, gender, race, education, and 2016 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±3.9%
Image: Getty
