What if Canadians voted for judges, like Washington state?

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Imagine adding a completely different category to your ballot this October – one that leaves it entirely up to the people to elect judges.

That’s what voters in Washington state will be doing, a different kind of direct democracy where they elect everyone from local courts to the state Supreme Court.

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It’s a process that’s been in place since the mid-1800s, according to Paul Chen, a political scientist at Western Washington University in Bellingham.

Chen says it’s a uniquely American system. It’s meant to make judges more accountable, but it’s different at the federal level.

“We want judges to be independent when they make their decisions, and yet not too independent,” he says. “That prevents judges from going rogue, so to speak.

“If voters don’t like what the judges are doing, they vote the judge out of office, just like any other politician.”

There are positives and negatives to this system, Chen says, such as the idea that lawyers may not want to run against judges because they fear retribution.

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But is this an idea Canadians should embrace?

“I don’t think there’s anything necessarily better about any of these methods over the other,” he says.

In this situation, judges might feel pressure when making decisions that, although it may be the best legal choice, the decision may not be popular or best for the majority of people.

Whether or not the public knows what makes a good judge is another potential issue.

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