Two Supreme Court justices will essentially be chosen by 0.02 percent of Americans

Supreme Court of the United States.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The 2016 presidential election is proving to be extremely consequential for the future of the Supreme Court.

Because President Trump's win was earned through Electoral College votes, not the popular vote, it was essentially a tiny fraction of Americans who led to Trump's opportunity to choose two Supreme Court justices, an NBC News reporter pointed out Wednesday.

Just 80,000 votes across three different states were a deciding factor in the presidential race, reports Mark Murray. Once Trump took office, he appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative constitutionalist. Now that Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring, there will be another seat open, and Trump has already signaled that he plans to nominate a conservative replacement as quickly as possible.

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If Trump succeeds in confirming another justice without Democrats blocking the nominee, that would mean that the miniscule fraction of Americans who made the difference in the 2016 election — roughly 0.02 percent of the U.S. population — played a major role in bringing two conservative justices to the nation's highest bench.

Don't let anyone tell you that your vote doesn't matter.

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Summer Meza, The Week US

Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.