Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Myske1 t1_ivl3kbr wrote

All the judges here where I live in Brooklyn were unopposed, and there's no primary for them. They either ran just as Dems or as both Dems and Reps. They were all pretty clearly chosen by the party machine.

It's fucking absurd. Either there should be primaries for them, or the mayor should appoint them with the consent of the city council. Judges should not be appointed by unelected party bosses.

253

Samcrow15 t1_ivlj0cb wrote

I thought i was tripping when i read the ballot

86

spad807 t1_ivlxv55 wrote

I asked the poll site workers if I misunderstood the ballot - they laughed and said nope all are running unopposed.

31

[deleted] t1_ivl4wg9 wrote

[deleted]

25

Myske1 t1_ivl5g57 wrote

Run how? The two parties submit their lists. Lists that they pick behind the scenes. Lists that are somehow identical to each other because the Dem and Rep party bosses have clearly made a deal.

65

64321684 t1_ivl8bt8 wrote

Yep, this is right. I know one of the judges on the ballot. It took them years to win the right to be the sole candidate on the ballot. Years of attending stupid events all across the city and kissing the rings of those who actually make this decision. The whole system is absolutely fucking absurd.

46

valoremz t1_ivn13xq wrote

> kissing the rings of those who actually make this decision.

Can you elaborate or give an example of who these party bosses are?

2

odeebee t1_ivn84sz wrote

Go to law school. Become a lawyer. Then become a judge. Then claim all elections are fraud and that all criminal prosecutions are witch-hunts. Then run as a Republican in NYC. This will all be a totally good use of your time, talent, and money I promise.

−1

[deleted] t1_ivl5obt wrote

[deleted]

−12

panda12291 t1_ivl897l wrote

The issue is the way that judges are selected in NY. The party holds a "judicial nominating convention" at which it selects the candidates that will be on the ballot, and then they all run unopposed. There is no primary to win; there is no transparency in the party selection process. The solution you propose simply doesn't exist. This is a real problem with judicial elections in NY that does not have an easy solution.

32

Myske1 t1_ivl9nkz wrote

There’s no primary. Did you not read the comment you replied to?

11

Smoy t1_ivm2l7w wrote

Oh yeah let me just put this spare million dollars I have into my election fund. Good thing I can spend my time campaigning instead of like, working my job that puts food on the table. Who needs that

2

ripstep1 t1_ivla3fg wrote

Can you just declare you are in the Democratic Party though?

−4

shotpun t1_ivm50wb wrote

problem is we (as a society) have decided that the people whose entire lifes work should be dedicated to removing bias from the legal system also have to run partisan political campaigns

10

NetQuarterLatte t1_ivln802 wrote

I’m writing in a protest vote in all unopposed ballots.

17

ChapCat23 t1_ivloc5o wrote

> Either there should be primaries for them, or the mayor should appoint them with the consent of the city council. Judges should not be appointed by unelected party bosses.

I always write my name in for these bc its pull and not an election. writing my name 17 times was fun.

13

NetQuarterLatte t1_ivlovnr wrote

I write in names like “More Candidates” if i don’t know who is in that ballot.

If I know the candidate is terrible, I vote for “Golden Retriever” or “Mickey Mouse”

10

ChapCat23 t1_ivlsxw4 wrote

haha I have in the past voted for different Pokémon instead of the actual candidates.

7

HendrixChord12 t1_ivlj21z wrote

Yea I thought that was strange. Is it not possible for a single independent to get on the ballot?

6

mowotlarx t1_ivmhq80 wrote

We shouldn't be electing judges anyway. Us trying to get judges to declare their political party and run on that ticket is sick.

6

Rottimer t1_ivm0nfr wrote

They should be appointed by the governor and approved by the legislature. Right now the process has no transparency, and thats a problem.

4

Free_Joty t1_ivmxzsy wrote

These past few years have convinced me that primaries are bad

We get wackos from both sides winning the low turnout primaries, and we’re stuck with shithole candidates on both sides

Look at PA senator race - a disabled man ( feel bad for him but he has no business being a senator right now, there has to be some one else in Pa better equipped for the job) vs some tv asshole

We’re stuck with SHIT. We wouldn’t have trump and Magas if established republicans just picked their presidential candidate. We wouldn’t have MTG or Herschel Walker. These fucking extreme shitholes who are engaged with politics more than the average Joe are electing grade a shit candidates.

Soon our races will be a literal fascist vs a literal communist.

−4

ER301 t1_ivkx347 wrote

Yea, this is a problem.

42

The-_Captain t1_ivle5kq wrote

I write names like Mike Hunt as write ins on every race that’s not opposed out of principle. The majority of races on my ballot were unopposed, or had the same candidate run in two parties.

42

LiKenun t1_ivm88ed wrote

I just came back from voting. The nice lady gave me a run through of the ballot and how to fill it out.

Lady: “And on this one, you can select up to 12—any 12.”

Me: “But there are only 12 choices.”

Lady: “Yes…”

33

brownredgreen t1_ivkzjep wrote

Another reason to switch from FPTP to Representational Apportionment.

We already have the majority of people voting for parties and not, actually, people.

30

k1lk1 t1_ivl11jf wrote

NY's closed primary system is terrible.

Top-two primaries make way more sense.

16

NathalieHJane t1_ivlfbcs wrote

This is why it's pointless to be registered as anything except a Democrat in this city if you have any desire to vote in an election that has meaning, i.e. the Democratic primary.

16

LouisSeize t1_ivllj7m wrote

I refuse to be registered in any party and I refuse to vote for judges that I as an attorney know are incompetent.

17

elizabeth-cooper t1_ivlq7on wrote

Such as who?

4

LouisSeize t1_ivlqmfu wrote

Thanks, but no thanks. Some judges are very petty and have been known to take revenge against lawyers for much slighter things.

Today, I saw one name on the ballot for Justice of the Supreme Court of a judge who personally told me he or she does not care what the higher courts have ruled.

6

elizabeth-cooper t1_ivls4qy wrote

>does not care what the higher courts have ruled.

Kind of depends what they mean by this. Anyway, if they don't rule correctly, doesn't that just give the losing party ammo to put in their appeal?

−3

LouisSeize t1_ivlyieu wrote

What they mean when they say, "I don't care what the Court of Appeals said?"

>Anyway, if they don't rule correctly, doesn't that just give the losing party ammo to put in their appeal?

Do you think judges should deliberately ignore the law and force litigants into the cost and time of an appeal?

8

Tan-Hat-Man-CPW t1_ivo8lyr wrote

Under the law, yes. But many litigants will never appeal due to either or both of the cost or/and frustration of continuing in the lawsuit.

It is also bizarre for a lawyer to prepare a case within the parameters of the law when the judge does not respect or adhere to the same parameters.

2

chumboschrute t1_ivkzed4 wrote

And this is why nothing will ever change in this city. No competition = atrophy

15

MLao_ t1_ivl3q9i wrote

Anyone decent is squashed and marginalized by the party they run with, and nobody is voting for a 3rd party candidate.

12

brickmaj t1_ivls246 wrote

And I didn’t do it this year, but last year I tried to loo up info on these candidate judges and there was like zero info on them at all. Like a sentence on ballotpedia. And these are the fucks who game me 15 car registration violations when I had a temp reg printed out on my dash.

6

KaiDaiz t1_ivljn2t wrote

Judges, DA, AG and sheriff (in other states) positions should never be elected. Make them career positions not political

4

FlargMaster t1_ivlnhto wrote

Completely fucked. I couldn't believe my ballot.

4

RedOrca-15483 t1_ivl3vge wrote

While the headline is depressing at first glance, it makes sense some of the candidates on this list go unchallenged. But yeah, no competition is a problem.

2

Pastatively t1_ivlrzyz wrote

I wrote “this is a joke” across that section of the ballot.

2

Few-Artichoke-2531 t1_ivmuayb wrote

I voted but refused to vote for uncontested candidates.

2

samydees t1_ivnsca4 wrote

Aww. This is how I get votes, and my cat does as well

1

Pika_yune t1_ivo9gzs wrote

Those are the rows I reserve for write-in candidates, who usually tend to be cartoons.

Over the years, Batman, Mickey Mouse, Pikachu, Homer Simpson, and Princess Celestia have gotten onto a ballot at least once.

1

BlueShield t1_ivooo4g wrote

Running unopposed is not a problem... The "solution" would be to introduce Republican candidates which is completely unnecessary and would just make things worse.

1

DARKZIDE4EVER t1_ivq4f2p wrote

2 ways to fix this, republican party has to get candidates in every race or active chain of command.

With chain of command, if you ran unopposed last race, you have to run against the person that is under you for your seat 👀

1