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Is Voting for State Judges a Flight of Fancy or a Reflection of Policy and Value Preferences?

NCJ Number
149571
Journal
Justice System Journal Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Dated: (1994) Pages: 57-71
Author(s)
N P Lovrich Jr; C H Sheldon
Date Published
1994
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study examined the 1988 race for an open seat on the Oregon Supreme Court to determine whether voters responded thoughtfully and rationally in their choices for the seat.
Abstract
The simultaneous presence of the Bush-Dukakis race for the Presidency and the mandatory prison term and gay rights initiatives provided an opportunity to test whether judicial voters were motivated by ideology. Specifically, the analysis considered whether conservatives and liberals, as identified by votes in the presidential race and on the two initiatives, carried their ideological preferences over to the judicial race. As a further check on the analysis, the study considered whether the liberal-conservative separation was absent from other initiatives and the other races for political office. A tabulation of voters' responses recorded on the actual punch card ballots clearly showed that voters remained ideologically consistent in their responses to a series of ideologically divisive initiative measures and to contrasting candidates vying in nonpartisan races for the State's high bench. If this research is indicative of voter behavior generally, then a high percentage of voters do base their decisions on distinctions in judicial philosophy likely to be manifest in court management decisions and sentencing. 3 tables and 37 references

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