American voters are split on whether President Obama should nominate a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Antonin Scalia or wait until a new president takes the Oval Office in January, according to newly released national polls.
A Rasmussen Reports survey found 43 percent believe Obama should delay naming a replacement for Scalia, while just over half — 51 percent — said the president should nominate a justice despite it being his final year in office, according to the Feb. 15-16 telephone poll.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll indicates the public is even more divided over the issue. Forty-two percent of registered voters said the president should wait until his successor takes office, but 43 percent want the Senate to vote on a nomination in 2016. The other 15 percent had no opinion.
Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network and a former law clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, was surprised the results were so close.
“I’ve seen piles and piles of public opinion polls through the years that people want more say in who their judges are. I’m surprised these numbers aren’t even higher than that,” Severino told the Washington Examiner late Wednesday.
The former law clerk cited voter frustration with Washington as a potential motivating factor that pushes voters to chime in and affect what happens in the Supreme Court nomination process.
Justice Scalia died unexpectedly Saturday while on a hunting trip in Texas. Hours after the news broke, Obama announced his intentions to nominate a justice in the coming weeks, which is expected to face an uphill battle through the GOP-controlled Senate.
