Partisan And Nonpartisan Elections Essay

#2 –– Distinguish between partisan and nonpartisan elections of judges. Is one type of election better than another? Why or why not? Partisan elections simply refer to a public voting for specific offices. Each candidate typically represents a specific party, primarily Republican or Democrat. Partisan elections for judges are identical to partisan elections for any other office. Voters cast their choice using a secret ballot and the judge that receives the majority of votes occupies the desired position. In these elections, political affiliation is very important and many voters will simply choose a particular candidate because of their declared party, rather than researching the candidate’s ability to adequately serve as an officer of the court. Alternatively, the book does make reference the fact that there are some voters participating in judicial elections that truly make informed selections regardless of their political interests. …show more content…
Unlike partisan elections, judges are “simply listed to fill judicial vacancies…” (p. 89). Interestingly enough, in 2004,14 states implemented nonpartisan elections in order to elect judges that occupied the highest appellate court positions. Although nonpartisan elections are gaining popularity as an effective method of selecting prestigious members of the court, it to has some negative attributes. The issue with both partisan and nonpartisan elections is that the most popular judge occupies a position in the court. Although this might sound fair, the most popular judge may not always be the most qualified judge. Adding more complications to the issue is the lack of an impartial criterion determining the competence of a judge. Additionally, most judges are not required to pass any qualifying tests or to demonstrate their competence by any means, exemplifying a potential for unqualified