Voters in 33 states will be asked to vote on justices for courts of last resort on their Nov. 5 ballots, while eight states are asking voters to decide on issues ranging from judicial discipline to term length.
The National Center for State Courts’ comprehensive State Supreme Court Elections 2024 tracker provides an easy-to-use map, tabs and charts that explain which states have justices on the ballot and how those justices are elected. It also shows important ballot measures that impact court operations. The tracker will be updated throughout election night as official results become available from state election offices.
“Since 2006, NCSC has offered live election night coverage of top court races in the U.S. as well as information on ballot items impacting the courts,” said Bill Raftery, an NCSC senior knowledge management analyst. “This year marks the second election cycle in a row in which the number of seats on high courts on the ballot exceeds 75 and number of ballot items is greater than five. Prior to 2022, the typical election night offered around 60 to 65 seats on the ballot. This year also marks the largest number of ballot items impacting the courts since 2012.”
The courts of last resort races include:
• Six states with partisan elections: Alabama, Illinois (1st District seat), Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas
• Twelve states with nonpartisan elections: Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia
• Sixteen states with retention elections in which voters will decide on a yes/no question of whether to keep justices in office: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois (4th District seat), Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wyoming
In thirteen states, three or more high court seats are on the ballot:
• Texas and Oklahoma each have six seats (three on the Supreme Court and three on other top courts, the Courts of Criminal Appeals)
• Alabama and Oregon each have five seats on the ballot
• Georgia and Mississippi have four seats on the ballot
• Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, and Washington each have three seats on the ballot
Voters will also decide on ballot items impacting the courts in eight states: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Oregon. Topics include changing the state’s judicial disciplinary processes, giving judges life terms, and creating a commission to set judicial and other salaries.
Additional information about these measures can be found by reading, “State courts at the ballot box 2024: Judicial salaries, selection, and other topics and “State courts at the ballot box 2024: Judicial disciplinary systems.” The tracker and articles can be found on NCSC’s website at www.ncsc.org.
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