Alex Brandon/Pool/AP

Nearly six in 10 Americans say that the president elected in November should be the one to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

That finding comes as a plurality of the public says that President Trump's choices for the court have changed it for the worse (38% say so) and most disapprove (at 54%) of the Senate's rules changes that have allowed Supreme Court nominees to move forward to a vote with the support from a simple majority rather than the traditional 60 votes.

All told, 59% say the winner of the upcoming presidential election should choose the person to fill Ginsburg's seat, including 97% of Democrats, 59% of independents and 17% of Republicans. In March 2016, opinions broke the other way, with 57% saying that President Barack Obama should have been the one to fill the vacancy created by the death of Antonin Scalia rather than the president elected in November. In the new poll, 41% say Trump should make an appointment to the seat now.

There has been a complete partisan reversal over that time, with Republicans moving from 26% saying the sitting president should pick the next justice to 83% saying the same now, while Democrats have moved from 85% saying Obama should have chosen the next justice to 3% saying the same about Trump now. Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, never received a hearing or vote in the Senate, and the seat was ultimately filled by Trump's nominee, Neil Gorsuch.

Asked to rate the ideological leanings of the current court, 44% say it is about right, 34% too conservative and 22% too liberal. A Trump appointment to the court would almost certainly shift the balance further toward conservatives. The court currently has five conservative justices and three liberal justices. In June 2015, shortly after rulings allowing same-sex marriage nationwide and upholding a key element of the Affordable Care Act, 40% called the court about right, 37% too liberal and 20% too conservative.

Beyond the expected partisan gap on this question (59% of Democrats call the court too conservative, Republicans split between saying it is about right, 44%, and too liberal, 46%), there is also a divide by gender over whether the court is too conservative: 39% of women say it is compared with 28% of men.

Read more here.

The post CNN Poll: Most say winner of election should choose the next justice appeared first on L.A. Focus Newspaper.