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For immediate release.
October 15, 2002
Contact: Jesse Rutledge, N.C. Center for Voter Education,
(919) 839-1200

Center Launches Guide to Judicial Elections

RALEIGH - According to survey research, North Carolina voters want more information about candidates for judicial office. The N.C. Center for Voter Education is responding to this need. From today through election day, November 5th, the Center is publishing an educational and nonpartisan website called the “N.C. Center for Voter Education Guide to Judicial Elections,” which is available online at www.ncjudges.org

The website features basic information from candidates for the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals, provided in their own words, with no gloss or spin. All 14 candidates for the seven statewide judicial offices have been invited to participate. Details on the website include the education of each candidate, their professional and legal experience, and a candidate statement of up to 200 words.

“Voters need more information about the candidates who want to sit on the state’s highest courts. By their own admission, too often voters go to the ballot box without enough information about these candidates,” said Chris Heagarty, executive director of the Center for Voter Education. “We’re taking the first step to a better educated electorate for judicial elections.”

Polling conducted earlier this year by American Viewpoint for the N.C. Center for Voter Education found that voters feel they do not have enough information to make informed choices about judicial candidates. A majority of voters -- 57 percent -- reported having little or no information at all about candidates in the last judicial election, while only 6 percent reported having “a great deal of information.”

The Guide to Judicial Elections is modeled on the voter guide used in the State of Washington, but adds one new twist: because it is online, the Center has invited all 14 candidates to tape a two-minute video statement, which visitors to www.ncjudges.org can watch using a streaming video application.

The Center will be running televised PSAs around the state encouraging voters to go to the website as a way to help make an informed choice when they vote for judge. Voters will also learn about the website through radio advertising, paid for by the Justice at Stake campaign, a Washington-based nonprofit that seeks to keep state courts fair and impartial.

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