Opinion ID: 795608
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The General Election

Text: 63 The final phase of the judicial electoral process is the general election. Empirical evidence showed that because one-party rule is the norm in most judicial districts, the general election is little more than ceremony. Over a 12-year period between 1990 and 2002, almost half of the State's elections for Supreme Court Justice were entirely uncontested, meaning that only one party's candidate appeared on the ballot. In certain judicial districts, contested elections verged on the non-existent. In the Sixth Judicial District, 91 percent of judicial elections were uncontested during the 12-year time span. In the First Judicial District, 85 percent of judicial elections were uncontested. In eight of the State's 12 judicial districts, more than half the elections were uncontested, which left 62 percent of the State's voters with no choice to make on the November ballot.