ABSTRACT
At present, thirteen American states retain some or all of their judges via retention elections.2 These retention elections have long been plagued by low voter participation. It is exceedingly difficult for voters to determine whether nonpartisan judges ought to keep their jobs. Few voters have specifically formed ideas of what makes for a good judge. In addition, most voters lack information about the incumbents in uncontested races. This is bad news, of course, if we are to see retention elections as providing a measure of democratic accountability.
