California judicial elections
The California judicial elections occur through the retention election of appellate judges and the nonpartisan election of Superior Court judges. Judicial elections occur in California in even-numbered years, though retention elections of appellate judges only occur every four years during gubernatorial elections.[1]
California is one of seven states that use nonpartisan elections to initially select judges and then use retention elections to determine whether judges should remain on the bench. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.
| Supreme Court | Courts of Appeal | Superior Courts |
|---|---|---|
| Retention elections - 12 year terms | Retention elections - 12 year terms | Nonpartisan elections - Six-year terms |
Elections
- California Supreme Court elections, 2022
- California intermediate appellate court elections, 2022
- California Supreme Court elections, 2020
- California intermediate appellate court elections, 2020
- California Supreme Court elections, 2018
- California intermediate appellate court elections, 2018
- California local trial court judicial elections, 2018
- California judicial elections, 2016
- California judicial elections, 2014
- California judicial elections, 2012
- California judicial elections, 2010
- California Superior Court judicial elections, 2010 (A-R)
- California Superior Court judicial elections, 2010 (S-Y)
Election rules
Primary election
Only candidates for the superior courts compete in primary elections.
- If a superior court judge runs unopposed for re-election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot and he or she is automatically re-elected following the general election.[2][3]
- Write-in candidates may file to run against an incumbent within 10 days after the filing deadline passes if they are able to secure enough signatures (between 100 and 600, depending on the number of registered voters in the county). In that case, the incumbent would appear on the general election ballot along with an option to vote for a write-in candidate.[3]
- In contested races, the candidate who receives a majority of all the votes in the primary wins the election. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the primary, the top two compete in the November general election.[4]
General election
- Superior court candidates who advance from the primary election compete in the general election.
Justices are typically retained. Since the state started its system of retention elections in 1934, the only year that any supreme court justice was not retained was 1986. That year, three justices were ousted from the bench. Rulings against the death penalty, particularly by Chief Justice Rose Bird, were cited as the primary factor.[5][6][7] According to the Indiana Law Review, this was the first time that a justice of any state high court lost a retention election.[8] Online election results for the courts of appeal go back to 1990 and show that none of those justices have been defeated in a retention election since that year.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]
Terms
Superior Court judges serve six-year terms that begin on the Monday following January 1 after their election.[20]
Fees
The fees for filing declarations of candidacy:
- Supreme court justices: 2 percent of their first-year salary
- Judges of the courts of appeal: 1 percent of their first-year salary
- Superior court judges: 1 percent of their annual salary[21]
See also
External links
- California Secretary of State, "Elections," accessed April 22, 2014
- Official California Legislative Information, "Elections Code," accessed April 22, 2014
- Los Angeles Times, "Voters Repudiate 3 of Court's Liberal Justices," November 5, 1986
Footnotes
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Justices of the supreme and appellate courts," accessed April 7, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 California Elections Code, "Section 8203," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 California Elections Code, "Section 8140-8150," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ Santa Clara Law Review (Volume 28, No. 2), "California Judicial Retention Elections" by Gerald F. Uelmen," 1988
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Judicial Selection in the States: California; Overview," archived January 11, 2014
- ↑ The California Supreme Court Historical Society, "The Rise and Fall of Rose Bird," 2007
- ↑ Robert H. McKinney School of Law - Indiana Law Review, "Judicial Retention Elections After 2010," accessed April 29, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results," 2006
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results," 2002
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results - Supreme Court," 1998
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results - Court of Appeals 1," 1998
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results - Court of Appeals 2," 1998
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results - Court of Appeals 3," 1998
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results - Court of Appeals 4," 1998
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results - Court of Appeals 5," 1998
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results - Court of Appeals 6," 1998
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results," 1994
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Election Results," 1990
- ↑ California Constitution#Section 16
- ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8100-8107," accessed April 22, 2014
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Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California
State courts:
California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts
State resources:
Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California
