The Senate next week is expected to confirm the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, but voters remain closely divided over whether that’s a good idea.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 41% of voters believe Sotomayor should be confirmed, while 37% disagree and oppose her confirmation. One-out-of-five voters (21%) aren’t sure.

There’s been little change in voters’ views of Sotomayor since the end of her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings nearly two weeks ago. At that time, 43% favored her confirmation and 39% were opposed. On Tuesday, the committee approved her nomination on a party-line vote, 13-6, with just one Republican senator in favor.

Sixty percent (60%) of Democrats favor confirmation of President Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee. Sixty-two percent (62%) of Republicans are opposed. Voters not affiliated with either party are split on the question.

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While at least five Republicans have said they will vote against Sotomayor, 91% of voters say it is at least somewhat likely that she will be confirmed by the Senate. Sixty-eight percent (68%) say it is very likely.

Forty-five percent (45%) of voters have a favorable opinion of Sotomayor, while 48% view her unfavorably. This marks a slight negative shift from the previous survey.

The majority of voters (51%) say Sotomayor is a liberal while 29% view her as a moderate. Just four percent (4%) think she is conservative in ideology, and 16% are not sure.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of conservatives say the nominee is a liberal, but most liberals (57%) see her as a moderate.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of voters see the current Supreme Court as too liberal, while 20% say it is too conservative. The plurality (42%) says the political balance is about right. But the court is also enjoying its highest performance ratings in over two years.

Eighty percent (80%) say they have followed news stories about the new Supreme Court nominee at least somewhat closely, with 43% following very closely. Only six percent (6%) say they haven’t followed news reports about her at all.

Following Obama’s initial announcement of her nomination in May, Sotomayor enjoyed better survey numbers than any of President George W. Bush’s nominees to the Supreme Court. But her numbers suffered when the Supreme Court overturned an appellate court ruling she was involved in that dealt with New Haven firefighters who were claiming reverse discrimination.

Sotomayor received a modest bounce following a week of confirmation hearings which generated few surprises and little drama.

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