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When Yvette McGee Brown became a justice on the Ohio Supreme Court, she was repeatedly ranked as "highly recommended" by the Ohio State Bar Association. However, when she ran for reelection, she was defeated by Sharon Kennedy, a judge scored as "not recommended." Following the election, journalists suggested that more Irish and "white-sounding" surnames on ballots might attract more votes than good ratings.
With regard to cases like this one, Claire S.H. Lim and James M. Snyder Jr.'s recent study explores how certain information, particularly revealed party affiliation, can impact judicial elections across different electoral systems. After analyzing data on election results and judicial evaluations from 39 US states between 1990 and 2010, the authors claim that different electoral rules cause voters to use information on candidates differently.
Lim and Snyder attest that results in partisan elections--where the candidates' political affiliation is shown on the ballot--resemble partisan patterns observed in previous federal and state elections. In other words, there is a strong correlation between the "normal Democrat vote" for other offices (such as the US President, senators,...