Majority in Poll Believes the Supreme Court Should Allow Trump on the Ballot, But Not Grant Him Immunity

A slight majority of Americans support the Supreme Court's determination that states cannot remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot, as revealed by a Marquette Law School poll released Wednesday.

According to the poll, 56% of respondents favor the Court's decision, while 39% were against it.

This question arises after a ruling in early March when the Supreme Court unanimously decided that no state can exclude Trump from voting ballots, rejecting Colorado's attempt to do so despite the state's Supreme Court ruling to keep Trump off the ballot, citing his alleged responsibility for the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.

Marquette Law School explained that respondents mostly want to see Trump on the ballot despite allegations of violating an "insurrectionist ban" included in the 14th Amendment.

However, 62% of respondents said they oppose granting former presidents immunity for acts committed during their administration. As part of the survey, pollsters conducted a "randomized experiment" in which half of the respondents were asked whether former presidents should have immunity, with only 20% responding affirmatively. The other half mentioned Trump by name, with 28% supporting immunity for him and 56% opposing it.

On April 25, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hold a hearing on whether former presidents should have immunity from criminal prosecution for actions during their administrations.

The Marquette poll also indicates a polarization between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of presidential immunity, both in questions that include Trump and those that do not mention him. In this case, 32% of Republicans and 9% of Democrats believe that former presidents should be immune from criminal prosecution for their official acts, while 49% of Republicans and 81% of Democrats believe there should be no immunity.

When mentioning Trump specifically, 55% of Republicans say the former president should enjoy immunity from prosecution for his official acts, whereas only 4% of Democrats believe he should, with the overwhelming majority (89%) opposing it."

A more conservative Court

The percentage of those who believe the Supreme Court has become too conservative has increased in just a few weeks, as revealed by the Marquette poll.

In its most recent survey, 25% of respondents described the Court as "very conservative" and 32% as "somewhat conservative." Only 8% viewed it as 'somewhat liberal' and 3% saw it as 'very liberal.' Those who described it as 'moderate' totaled 20%. Weeks before, those who perceived the Court as "very conservative" were 21% and 5% said it was "very liberal."