Member-only story
Well, My Ballot Is Done
Now, can we please get this election done
Every four years since I first voted in 1992, I’ve faced the challenge of deciding which judges to retain and which not to. The creation of the scorecard site made the process simpler, but it still required effort. Should judges be rated differently if they are family or juvenile judges versus criminal judges? If so, how should the rating differ?
I remember debating with someone about voting, and she told me she just votes for whoever has the (R) next to their name. I shook my head at the lack of thought involved in that approach and asked how she decided which judges to retain. She said she used the same method.
While I’m a bit surprised that judges aren’t listed by political party these days, back then, judges were seen as protectors of the law, not representatives of a party. I chuckled and informed her that judges don’t have a political designation listed. She said she either leaves them blank or copies someone else’s ballot. I didn’t have a problem with that, as I had heard of someone else who retained every other one. From that point on, I shared my research and offered to make a copy of my ballot for others to use if they wanted. I’ve continued to do this every four years.
This year, the ballot was two pages long, front and back, with one page…
