If US Election Winds up in Supreme Court, Ginsburg’s Death Will Loom Large

The death of liberal ⚖️Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday could spell bad news for Democrats if a legal battle over the results of the Nov. 3 presidential election reaches the high court, as it did in 2000.

If President 👤Donald Trump, a Republican, is able to install a conservative replacement in time, the new justice could help resolve any dispute in favor of the president – an outcome that would deepen the country’s partisan divide and threaten the court’s reputation as an independent arbiter, some legal experts said.

“People’s views of Bush v. Gore would be tame by comparison,” said Joshua Douglas, a University of Kentucky law professor, referring to the controversial 2000 ⚖️Supreme Court decision that effectively handed George W. Bush a victory. “It’s almost unimaginable what the reaction would be.”

Before Ginsburg’s death, the court had a 5-4 conservative majority, so even if her seat were to remain vacant, Democrats would need two conservative votes to avoid losing or a 4-4 tie in any post-election case.

The 2020 campaign has already seen more election-related lawsuits than any other in recent memory, said Dale Ho, who runs the voting rights project at the American Civil Liberties Union. Many of the cases are focused on whether to expand voting options amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has prompted millions of Americans to request mail-in ballots.

Ginsburg’s death has unleashed a heated political battle over whether Trump should replace her so close to the election, with early voting already underway in some states.