On the Ballot: Missouri Judges

     In advance of the November 8th election, Valley News will look at the issues voters will see on the ballot. Up first, the retention of a number of Missouri judges.
     Missouri operates under a nonpartisan court plan, which provides for both partisan and retention judicial elections.
     Partisan-elected judges run under a party label against challengers, unless no one chooses to oppose them. Voters elect their local judges during regular elections. Elected judges must run for reelection at the end of each term. Nonpartisan judges do not run against challengers, and voters are asked to vote for or against them based on the strength of their performance on the bench.  Nonpartisan judges are forbidden to campaign for retention under the Code of Judicial Conduct. 
     To help voters gain insight as to the performance of judges seeking retention this year, the Judicial Performance Review Committee – a statewide panel of lawyers, non-lawyers and retired judges – reviews the performance of each nonpartisan judge appearing on this year’s general election ballot.
     To learn more about the judges up for retention on the November ballot, visit the Missouri Plan's website at Judges - Missouri Judicial Evaluations (yourmissourijudges.org). 
     Absentee voting for the November election begins September 27th. Voters must be registered by October 12th in order to vote in the November election. For more information on registering and to view a sample ballot, visit On the Ballot | Jackson County Missouri Election Board (jcebmo.org).