State Judicial Elections' Impact on Participation in Direct Democracy

Abstract

This article examines how the presence of judicial elections on the ballot impacts voter participation on direct democracy measures affecting justice. Ballot roll-off occurs on judicial elections and direct democracy measures for similar reasons. We explore the linkage between judicial elections and direct democracy measures based on theory indicating that ballot measures affect other races on the ballot, particularly when these measures involve specific issues, and the impact of different selection methods on ballot roll-off. To explore this relationship, we analyze 1,259 different ballot propositions from 1998 to 2007 in forty-one different states, with varying judicial selection methods. We find there is increased roll-off for direct democracy measures when there are judicial elections on the ballot, but less ballot roll-off for direct democracy measures when these measures have connecting topics. Further, because of the impact and electoral consequences of different judicial selection methods we expect differences in roll-off for these different selection methods.