[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]PROTESTERS gathered outside Mitch McConnell’s home after he said the Senate would vote to fill the Supreme Court vacancy ahead of November’s election.

Around 100 people stood on the road outside the house in Louisville, Kentucky holding placards reading “Ditch Mitch!” and “Ruth Sent Us”.

The protests follow the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an associate justice from the liberal wing of the Supreme Court, on Friday.

Democrats argue that the Republican-held Senate should wait until after the election to vote on a replacement, as it did after the death of conservative Antonin Scalia nine months before the 2016 election.

But following the death, McConnell confirmed the Senate would vote to confirm a candidate justice to be picked by President Trump in the coming weeks.

Footage shot on Saturday showed a crowd lined up on either side of the street outside his home chanting: “Hey hey, ho ho, Mitch McConnell has got to go!”

There were also reports of protesters blocking the street, and police later attended to try to clear the road.

The demonstration ended after around three hours with one arrest made, the New York Post reported.

It is not clear whether McConnell was at the house when the protest took place.

Speaking to the Courier Journal, protester Laura Johnsrude said: “I’m disgusted that Senator McConnell would treat this opportunity in a complete different manner than he treated the opportunity when there was a vacancy when Obama was nine or 10 months away from the election.

“I’m not surprised, but I am disgusted. I think that’s appalling.”

Following the death of Justice Scalia, President Obama attempted to appoint DC Court of Appeals judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, but McConnell and other Senate Republicans refused to hold a confirmatory vote.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez called on voters Sunday to contact senators and urge them to honor Ginsburg’s wishes to hold off on a replacement until after the presidential election.

The Democrats blasted McConnell for what they called “blatant, nasty hypocrisy” and said House Dems would take “unprecedented” measures to ensure the next president chooses the next Supreme Court justice.

“We need to make sure we mobilize on an unprecedented scale to ensure this vacancy is reserved for the next president,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“We must also commit to using every procedural tool available to us to ensure that we buy ourselves the time necessary.”

‘LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE’

The nine-member Supreme Court often rules on some of the most contentious issues in US politics, and the chance to fill a vacancy is viewed as a significant opportunity to influence the country’s laws.

In a statement released late on Friday, McConnell said: “In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term. We kept our promise.

“By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary.

“Once again, we will keep our promise.”

In response, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said: “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice.

“Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

Justice Ginsberg died aged 87 due to complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer.