Poll: Majority of Democrats, Young Voters Want to ‘Abolish’ or Expand Supreme Court 

A majority of Democrats and young voters would support abolishing or packing the Supreme Court, a new Rasmussen Reports survey found.

Sixty-three percent of Democrats view the Supreme Court unfavorably, including 40 percent who have a “very unfavorable” view, following a string of decisions “strengthening the Second Amendment, reining in the power of the Environmental Protection Agency, and ending the Constitutional right to an abortion…,” the poll report states. In contrast, 52 percent of overall U.S. voters, 72 percent of Republicans, and 52 percent of independent voters have a favorable view of the court.

While a majority (51 percent) of likely voters oppose expanding the Supreme Court from nine justices to 13, 64 percent of Democrats favor the idea.

A majority of likely voters (53 percent) also oppose abolishing the current Supreme Court to “establish a new, democratically elected Supreme Court with justices chosen by the American people directly.” However, 53 percent of Democrats would favor such legislation, including 37 percent who strongly favor it.

Likewise, 55 percent of likely voters under 40 favor the idea of expanding the Supreme Court and 54 percent support the idea of abolishing the court. Nearly half (48 percent) also “think the United Nations (U.N.) should be able to reverse Supreme Court decisions,” in contrast  to the attitude of overall likely voters. Sixty-two percent strongly oppose creating a constitutional amendment giving the U.N. authority over the nation’s highest court. Democrats are more likely to favor the idea (39 percent) than Republicans (17 percent) or independents (30 percent). 

Forty-nine percent of young voters think the Supreme Court is “fundamentally racist,” and 54 percent think it is “fundamentally sexist.” A majority of Democrats also view the court as racist (56 percent) and sexist (67 percent).

Democrats’ sentiments are out of sync with the majority of voters, 55 percent of whom disagree that the court is sexist and 61 percent of whom disagree that it is racist.

“I am shocked and dismayed by these poll results,” Heartland Institute research fellow Donald Kendal said of the results. “How can an institution like the Supreme Court function properly when the majority of those who call themselves liberal think the Court is sexist and racist? How can our system of government continue to work as outlined by the Constitution when the majority of those who call themselves liberal advocate for the abolishment of the Supreme Court? … I know our country has been divided in recent years; I’m starting to fear that division is becoming irreparable.”

Heartland Institute senior editor Chris Talgo said the poll shows that there is “a movement afoot” among young voters and leftists to “reimagine” the Supreme Court so that it is “nothing more than a rubber stamp for their radical agenda.” 

“Fortunately, most likely voters reject this notion and steadfastly support the Supreme Court,” Talgo added. 

Rasmussen Reports conducted the survey with 1,025 likely U.S. voters between July 6-7, 2022. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.