judgesonmerit.org

An editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal lauds Merit Selection as the solution to the state’s broken electoral system:

The State Journal editorial board has strongly favored replacing Wisconsin’s disgraceful high court election system with merit selection. Recent state Supreme Court elections have been so soiled by outlandish TV ads and subsequent ethics investigations that trust in the court is falling. So is the quality of election winners.

The editorial compares a recent poll of voters in Washington with last year’s poll of Wisconsin voters.  The editorial argues that the Wisconsin poll, conducted by the Federalist Society, “completely misinterpreted [the] results” and improperly omitted any reference to Merit Selection as an alternative judicial selection method.  The Wisconsin State Journal concludes:

[v ]oters may well support a better system in which a civic-minded panel analyzes and picks a short list of the most experienced and impartial high court candidates in the state. And then the governor or some other appointing authority chooses from the list. . . . The recent poll in the state of Washington suggests public support for such a system could be quite strong in Wisconsin. The Badger State has long emphasized good government — something merit selection would foster.

We think Pennsylvanians are likely to support such a system as well.  We hope the people of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will get the opportunity to make that decision for themselves.