Voters worry about Supreme Court bias in 2024 election

WASHINGTON (CN) — Voters are cautiously optimistic about the integrity of the 2024 election, but most Americans don’t think the Supreme Court can be politically neutral if the justices are asked to intervene, according to a poll published Thursday.

Pew Research Center’s report revealed broad concerns about a wildcard legal ruling disrupting an otherwise free and fair election. Only 20% of voters said they trusted the justices to act on post-election litigation.

Election experts predict a flood of lawsuits if the tight race is decided on the margins.

“There will be legal knife fights over individual ballots, particularly absentee ballots,” Rick Pildes, a law professor at New York University School of Law, said in an email.

Some forthcoming litigation may be impossible to predict, but ongoing lawsuits in two states could prove consequential.

In North Carolina, the High Point branch of the NAACP claims that a 2018 voter ID law requiring in-person voters to show identification at the polls disenfranchises Black and Latino voters. Civil rights groups and Republican leaders are set to square off at a hearing Thursday.

Meanwhile the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld no-excuse mail-in voting in August, but Pildes said challengers could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene under the independent state legislature theory.

In 2023, the Supreme Court largely rejected an expansive argument from North Carolina lawmakers that would have given legislatures unchecked power over elections. But the high court left open the possibility for federal court intervention in challenges to state election laws.

Any Supreme Court appeal would arise under emergency procedures, cutting down the typically monthslong timeline for rulings.

Pildes said he’ll be watching whether the justices call for disputed ballots to be separated before they are counted. “If that doesn’t happen, it’s impossible to unwind the clock; once ballots that might be disputed are counted with all the other ballots, there is no judicial remedy available,” he said.

Democrats in Congress share voters’ concerns about the Supreme Court.

New York Representative Joe Morelle, ranking member of the House Committee on Administration, has said he’s fearful of what the justices might do if given the chance. He said the high court needed to restore Americans’ faith in their work, suggesting ethics reforms as one avenue.

Should the justices’ intervention be unnecessary, most voters — more than 70% — think the election will run smoothly, votes will be counted accurately and ineligible voters will be barred from casting ballots, according to Pew.

Nearly all of Vice President Kamala Harris’ supporters were confident the election would be administered well, compared to only 57% of former President Donald Trump’s supporters.

Harris supporters also were more confident that a clear winner will be declared, mail-in ballots will be counted as intended and election systems are secure from hacking and other threats.

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