MICHIGAN (WXMI) — With Election Day less than a week away, most people know the candidates for governor, congress and the state legislature, but those on the ballot for judicial races often remain unknown up until the moment a person steps into their precinct.
“When I ran… I literally stood up in front of everybody that I ever talked to and said, ‘I am the last person you should vote for for county judge. That’s because I am the last name on the ballot,’” said Jeffrey Swartz, a WMU Cooley law professor.
Swartz previously served as a judge in Miami-Dade County in Florida.
He says while his corny joke worked in his favor, the lack of voter participation for judicial races is not something to laugh about.
“[People] vote for governor, they vote for senator, they vote for Congress, they’ll vote for their city council, but when it gets to the judges, they go, ‘I’ve been in this booth for five minutes, that’s longer than I wanted to give’ and they just leave,” said Swartz. “It’s sad because judges really are important.”
Chris Yates agrees.
“I served in the family division, the criminal division, the civil division and the business docket in Kent County and in all of those capacities, I was making extraordinary important decisions for people’s lives whether it was child custody, termination of parental rights, sentencing people for criminal offenses,” said Yates, who currentlyserves on the Michigan Court of Appeals and is president of theMichigan Judges Association.
Yates is up for re-election this November.
He says while those on the bench enforce laws that can dramatically impact a person’s life, an estimated 30% of people do not vote after they get through the partisan section of a ballot.
“You’re putting people in positions of tremendous power without thinking very much about who it is or why you’re doing it,” said Yates.
In Michigan, voters elect all of the state’s judges, although the governor may appoint one if a seat becomes open in the middle of a term.
Trial court and court of appeals judges serve six year terms. It’s eight years for state Supreme Court justices.
Judgeships are nonpartisan positions, but political parties do nominate the candidates for the state’s highest court.
According to Yates, judicial candidates often run unopposed.
“This fall, you’ll see contested races for two Supreme Court seats, the Governor making an appointment to a vacant seat, two contested races for two court of appeals seats across the state… and then in the lower courts across the state, you’ll see mostly judges running unopposed as incumbents and then multiple candidates running for vacant seats,” said Yates. “There’s not just one process for getting to the bench and you’re seeing all of them at work this fall, which is uncommon.”
Yates and Swartz acknowledge the unbiased nature of the job likely plays a role in why people do not closely follow the races.
Candidates may only discuss their judicial philosophies, not how they would rule in a certain case.
According to Swartz, convincing someone what qualifies a candidate for a judgeship can often be easier said than done.
“People don’t know the people that are running for judge,” said Swartz. “They’ll see a sign here or there, but they don’t go to judicial forums and they don’t hear judges talk for the most part… If they vote, they vote gender, they vote ethnicity, they’ll vote religion.”
While not ideal, Swartz and Yates say staying nonpartisan is the only option that does not compromise a judge’s ability to produce a fair result consistent with the law.
They encourage people to educate themselves for a more meaningful vote by doing the following:
- Read a candidate’s website
- Check out their State Bar of Michigan profile
- Attend judicial forums
- Talk with local attorneys about their experience with the candidate
- Read trusted news sources
Below are the contest races west Michigan voters will decide on Tuesday, Nov. 8:
JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT
- Richard Bernstein
- Kerry Lee Morgan
- Paul Hudson
- Kyra Harris-Bolden
- Brian Zahra
3rd DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS (Non-incumbent) - Kent County
- Kathleen Feeny
- Raymond Voet
8th DISTRICT COURT JUDGE (Non-incumbent) - Kalamazoo County
- Lana Maria Escamilla
- Becket Jones
14th CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE - Muskegon County
- Jason D. Kolkema
- Jenny L. McNeill
14th CIRCUIT COURT (New judgeship) - Muskegon County
- Gregory C. Pittman
- Matthew Kacel
20th CIRCUIT COURT - Ottawa County
- Paul Kraus
- Mercedes Watts
