Judicial elections, democratic appointment (e.g., senate confirmation), and the Missouri Plan (a/k/a "merit selection")

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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Pennsylvania Judicial Retention


Judges in Pennsylvania are elected to vacant seats in partisan elections, but then stand for periodic nonpartisan retention elections.

Pennsylvania Representative Ted Harhai (D) introduced a bill last week that would require judicial retention election ballots to list the party affiliations of judges. "His legislation is a less radical move than separate bills ... that seek to eliminate initial judicial elections — while still preserving retention elections — for statewide judges. The backers of these bills claim that merit selection, rather than added transparency in elections, is key to boosting the public’s trust." according to Law360.
 

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