judgesonmerit.org

An article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review offers a gloomy assessment about the upcoming judicial elections in Westmoreland County where voters are electing two new judges:

Look who’s talking about the upcoming election for two Westmoreland County judgeships.

Apparently nobody.

The disturbing evidence to support this conclusion: a scheduled candidate forum was canceled when two of the three candidates “said they weren’t interested.”  Why the lack of interest? They participated in a forum in advance of the primaries and it was recorded, so they claim it’s not necessary to do it again.  One candidate explained, “‘In a judicial campaign there are only so many questions you can ask.’”  Really, because it seems to us there’s a lot of things people might want to know about those who seek to become their judges.

Perhaps more troubling: another candidate claimed there was little public interest in having a candidate forum.  Choosing judges is a big responsibility; voters generally claim they want more information, not less.

Well, this is all very discouraging.  Two of three candidates and the “public” have determined it’s not necessary for voters to educate themselves in advance of the election.  Sleepy elections aren’t good for anyone, and they certainly don’t help voters make good decisions in the voting booth.  Maybe elections aren’t the right way to go about choosing judges.