Senate Confirms Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court Just Over a Week Before Election Day – By Tess Berenson (TIME) / Oct 26 2020
Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court Monday along a near party-line vote, cementing a strong conservative majority on the nation’s highest court just over one week before Election Day.
With a 52 to 48 vote, Republicans put Barrett on the Supreme Court for a lifetime appointment without the support of a single Democrat. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican to vote against Barrett. The speed of the confirmation process, the stakes for the balance of power on the Supreme Court and the proximity to Election Day are expected to motivate voters on both sides of the aisle to express their support or dismay over the outcome at the ballot box.
Historically, the courts have been a stronger catalyst for Republican voters to head to the polls than for Democrats, conservative and liberal groups agree. But that might change this year. Progressive judicial advocates say the courts are finally becoming as much of a rallying cry for their base as they traditionally have been for conservatives. “With the election so close, a lot of people are channeling their anger and outrage into electoral action,” says Chris Kang, chief counsel of progressive judicial advocacy group Demand Justice.
In 2016, the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia’s death may have been decisive in convincing conservative voters to support Donald Trump. National exit polls showed that 21% of voters said the Supreme Court appointment was “the most important factor” in their decision, and those voters favored Trump over his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “Supreme Court nominations unite the Republican Party,” says Mike Davis, president of the Article III Project, a group that fights to confirm Trump’s judicial nominees. Now, as Trump trails former Vice President Joe Biden in national polls, “Judge Barrett’s nomination is helping President Trump climb out of the hole and it will put him in a place where he can stun the world again with an upset victory,” Davis says.
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