Only three names appear on every ballot in Arkansas in the May primary elections: Justice Courtney Goodson, Judge Kenneth Hixson, and attorney David Sterling, the three candidates running for Goodson’s Arkansas Supreme Court justice seat.
For voters, making an informed choice between the three can be challenging – like flying blind or at least with limited visibility. The Supreme Court race is nonpartisan, and we voters rely on those Ds and Rs by candidates’ names. Moreover, judicial candidates aren’t supposed to say how they would vote in particular cases – unlike, say, a congressional candidate who can promise not to cut taxes. The thinking is, if a judicial candidate reveals a preference beforehand, he or she can’t serve as an impartial jurist when it counts.
Outside groups, however, don’t have those limitations. Continue reading Voters flying blind on Supreme Court race
