On November 3rd, most of America will be paying attention to the Presidential race. However, there are also more interesting elections further down the ballot. I am not talking about the races for Congress or State Legislatures, I am talking about judicial elections. These judicial elections take two forms: regular elections and retention elections. The regular judicial elections are probably the least interesting, as they function similarly to normal elections. One Democrat faces one Republican and the winner gets the judgeship. Retention elections are the interesting ones. These elections put a judge on the ballot and ask if they should be retained (essentially, should they keep their job) or not. For a judge to be retained, they need to get over 40% of the vote. If they do not, they will be kicked out and their judgeship will be filled in the next election. These types of retention elections are very important for citizens, as they are the only way they can have a vote on these sorts of appointed judges.
Now when most people first get their ballot in the mail or look up their sample ballot, they notice that a big chunk of it is these judicial retention elections. Most people just either, vote for retention without actually doing research, or just skip over the races because they are not informed. That is why it is so important to look up these judges who are up for retention, because some of the scandals that involve judges are not reported on normally. For example, one judge up for retention this year is Jackie Marie Portman-Brown. Brown has been criticized in the past for her temperament on the bench and had an incident earlier this year where she locked her 6-year old grandniece in a holding cell for over 10 minutes. Another judge up for retention this year is Mauricio Araujo. Araujo has seen several of his convictions overturned and has several serious allegations of sexual harassment against him. These are the types of stories that are not usually reported on, which makes it very important that you research these judges before you vote on November 3rd or before. One organization I highly recommend for this is Injustice Watch. They provide a list of judges up for retention and give a rundown on each of them, what they have done on the bench, and any controversies involving them. November 3rd looks like it will bring a lot of change to the country. From the top brass of government all the way to the local races, change appears to be in the air. However, pay attention to the most forgotten races, judicial races. These judges are a major reason in why our justice system is the way it is. If you want to have a say in changing the justice system for the better, pay attention to these judicial races when you vote.