Voting for judges . org

By Diane Hettrick

There are ten judicial races on our ballots - State Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Superior Court.

Unless you are part of the tiny percentage of lawyers who are trial attorneys, chances are you have personal knowledge of few of these candidates.

People tend to skip these races on their ballots.

However, there is a wonderful website called Voting for Judges. It provides information that might make you feel more comfortable about your vote.

Here's the information that may be on the site. Start with the first race - State Supreme Court Justice Position No. 1 - Mary Yu and David DeWolf.

• Go to the website. In the left column, select "Supreme Court." It shows the three Supreme Court races, and names of the candidates for each position. In Position 1, pick either Mary Yu or David DeWolf. The link will lead you to a page of information about that person and that race.

• It starts with their biography - education, experience, and a statement from the candidate.

• Then there is the TVW segment they recorded for the Video Voters' Guide and their websites.

• The next section lists all the organizations that endorse judges and notes how they rated the two candidates.

• The next section shows newspaper endorsements for each with a link to the written editorial endorsement. The following section lists all the newspaper stories that mention the candidate, with a link to the story.

• Last is a link to their campaign finance report so you can see who is funding their campaign.

The format and material can vary from candidate to candidate, depending on the available information.

I find that I don't have to read it all before I find what I need to make a decision. And I feel like I have made a good decision, based on a lot of information.