Voter knowledge of judicial candidates is extremely low, driving reliance on party cues

Evidence

Not surprisingly, issueless judicial campaigns attract little voter interest and make it difficult to mount a strong challenge to incumbent judges. Often voter knowledge of candidates is woefully inadequate. A survey of voters in one Texas election found that fewer than 5 percent could name a candidate for the trial court of general jurisdiction. Voters deal with this lack of information in various ways. In partisan elections, voters typically take their cues from the party affiliation of the candidates; thus, the vote for judges tends to reflect the partisan division in the state. In nonpartisan elections, where voters lack even that cue, voting patterns tend to be more diffuse as voters look for something—a familiar name, a newspaper endorsement, or incumbency—to differentiate among the candidates. When judicial elections are not concurrent with elections for other offices, many potential voters do not bother to turn out. When the judicial elections are concurrent, voters still may ignore the judicial races, particularly in nonpartisan systems. According to one study, 90 percent of voters going to the polls voted for judicial candidates in contested partisan elections, but only 70 percent voted for judicial candidates in contested nonpartisan elections. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 418

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the course’s examination of judicial selection methods and democratic accountability of courts — partisan versus nonpartisan election mechanics. — connects to: Low-information voters fall back on party, name recognition, endorsements, or incumbency in judicial races — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 575; Retention elections rarely remove judges because voters lack information about them — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 436

Broader Connections

• Low-information voters fall back on party, name recognition, endorsements, or incumbency in judicial races #expands (0.95) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 575
• Retention elections rarely remove judges because voters lack information about them #expands (0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 436