evidence: Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court Monday along a near party-line vote, cementing a strong conservative majority on the nation’s highest court just over one week before Election Day. With a 52 to 48 vote, Republicans put Barrett on the Supreme Court for a lifetime appointment without the support of a single Democrat. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican to vote against Barrett. The speed of the confirmation process, the stakes for the balance of power on the Supreme Court and the proximity to Election Day are expected to motivate voters on both sides of the aisle to express their support or dismay over the outcome at the ballot box. [...] In 2016, the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia’s death may have been decisive in convincing conservative voters to support Donald Trump. National exit polls showed that 21% of voters said the Supreme Court appointment was "the most important factor" in their decision, and those voters favored Trump over his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "Supreme Court nominations unite the Republican Party," says Mike Davis, president of the Article III Project, a group that fights to confirm Trump’s judicial nominees. Now, as Trump trails former Vice President Joe Biden in national polls, "Judge Barrett’s nomination is helping President Trump climb out of the hole and it will put him in a place where he can stun the world again with an upset victory," Davis says.