COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s top judge has dropped her
proposal to strip party labels from Ohio’s judicial primaries after a
year’s worth of feedback on the idea was mixed.
Chief Justice
Maureen O’Connor had advocated the nonpartisan primaries as part of a
package of proposed judicial changes she rolled out last year.
In a
white paper that accompanied her address Thursday to the Ohio State Bar
Association’s annual convention, O’Connor named the proposal as among
those left on the cutting-room floor" after study and deliberation of
her original eight.
She said the idea has been discarded "reluctantly, but not permanently."
O’Connor
said three proposals emerged from her conversations and study over the
past year that she believes can significantly strengthen Ohio’s judicial
elections:
—Moving judicial elections to odd-numbered years and the top of the ballot;
—Enhancing voter education on candidates running for judge by establishing an election information and
engagement program; and
—Increasing the basic qualifications to serve as judge.
She
asked the lawyers’ group to support her as she takes the plan to state
legislators and Gov. John Kasich in coming weeks to advocate for
relevant legislation.
O’Connor said it became apparent that moving
forward with all eight of her 2013 proposals would be too cumbersome,
but the idea of nonpartisan primaries was the hardest to give up.
"Of
the eight proposals, this one drew the most interest and the most
comments on the judicial selection website. Public comment was split
right down the middle," she said. "This idea also generated the loudest
response from the audience when I answered a rhetorical ‘no’ to the
question of whether party affiliation has any bearing on races for an
office that requires absolute impartiality."
O’Connor was greeted
with applause at the bar association’s 2013 convention in Cleveland when
she declared: "Party affiliation has no place in judicial elections,
period."
Her initiative came as polls showed the public views
judges as susceptible to political influence, yet a strong majority of
Ohioans oppose doing away with judicial elections altogether, she said
at the time.
Of 22 states that elect judges, 14 have nonpartisan
elections and seven have overtly political contests. Ohio is the only
state in the nation that identifies the party of prospective judges in
its primaries and then sends winners into a general election in which
party labels aren’t used.
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