judgesonmerit.org

A group called Johnson Countians for Justice is fighting to keep its Merit Selection system for selecting local judges. This fall, a ballot initiative will propose eliminating the Merit Selection system and replacing it with partisan elections. Johnson Countians for Justice recently held a press conference to highlight the importance of the issue and has unveiled a well-researched website with great information for concerned voters. Here’s an excerpt from their FAQ, explaining why Kansas Counties that use Merit Selection actually allow more voter input in judicial selection than those that elect their judges:

In the 2004 Kansas general election of judicial partisan elections, only 15 out of 85 had more than one candidate on the ballot. In contrast, the voters in judicial districts with the merit selection process have the right vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to retain all of the judges in that district. Even in the 2006 primary election, only 8 of the 34 partisan elected judges had opposition.

We will follow this effort in the coming months and we wish Johnson Countians for Justice well in their fight to protect Merit Selection.

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