On September 9, 2015, the Seventh Circuit struck down an Indiana election law for judicial elections in Indianapolis. The law said no party was permitted to nominate for more than half the seats. Trial court judges in Indianapolis are elected in partisan elections. Because there were almost never any minor party or independent candidates for those judicial posts, the voters had no real choice in November. The Democratic Party ran for half the seats, and the Republican Party did likewise, so voters had no realistic input.
The state has decided not to ask for U.S. Supreme Court review, so the decision will stand. The decision is useful for ballot access challenges because it says that giving voters no choice in the general election is “a severe burden.” The case is Common Cause of Indiana v Individual Members of the Indiana Election Commission, 14-3300.
It is somewhat likely that the legislature will now abolish judicial elections in Indianapolis. In most other parts of Indiana there are no such judicial elections.
There are judicial elections in most of indiana, but none of them had this half and half arrangement. One of the frustrating things about this case is it’s a ruling but not a remedy; they allowed the same judges to be ‘elected’ the same way for the next 4 or 6 years.
I am one of the only people who has run for these judgeships from a third party, back in 2000.
Here’s something Rob Richie wrote about the decision just after it came out: http://www.fairvote.org/research-and-analysis/blog/seventh-circuit-and-limited-nominations-an-effective-voice-in-the-general-election-/