Feb. 14, 2005
Poll Shows Voters Like Election Guide
By J. Barlow Herget
RALEIGH - “I think people are glad to get anything that gives them a better understanding of these [judicial] races,” says state Sen. Tony Rand, D-Fayetteville, talking about the state’s voter guide on appellate judicial candidates last year.
Rand’s comment reflects the unfortunate political fact that judicial races tend to be the black holes of elective politics. To paraphrase the late Rodney Dangerfield, judicial candidates get no attention.
A new exit poll taken last Election Day, however, supports Rand’s opinion that people want information on judicial races, and voters liked the first edition of the State Judicial Voter Guide published last fall.
The survey, for example, found that over 90 percent of voters who received the guide were satisfied with its contents. And even among voters who didn’t get the booklet, 80 percent liked the idea of such a publication.
Two non-profits, the N.C. Center for Voter Education (NCCVE) in Raleigh and Justice at Stake in Washington, DC, sponsored the survey. The State Board of Elections mailed the guide to 3.9 million registered voters in October.
State Board of Elections Executive Director Gary Bartlett says most of the comments he has received about the guide have been positive. “People say, ‘This is great,’” he reports. Then chuckling, he adds, “And then they ask, ‘How come we don’t do it for all offices?’”
Bartlett even had a fan letter from one of the judicial candidates, Appeals Court Judge Linda McGee. She wrote, “I wanted to compliment you on the 2004 voter guide. The information from the candidates should assist voters in casting their votes.”
Superior Court Judge and Chairman of NCCVE Ed Wilson of Eden is another fan. Recalling his days as an attorney in private practice, Wilson says people often confessed their ignorance of judicial candidates and asked his advice.
“The voter guide educates the public about candidates and it’s highly effective. It’s straightforward and balanced,” he says. “A large number have commented favorably on it.”
The voter guide featured photos and short biographies and statements submitted by each candidate. The booklet was printed and mailed for the bargain price of $496,934.
Voter satisfaction wasn’t the only thing confirmed by the exit poll. It also examined voter reaction to the guide and its impact on voting patterns.
Thirty-eight percent of voters who used the guide, for instance, reported it was their primary source of information about judicial candidates. The next primary source was newspapers at 27 percent and then television news at 23 percent.
Not surprising was the finding that voters who had the guide were more likely to vote in judicial elections. If you know the players, it’s always more fun to watch the game.
What was surprising was the guide’s curious effect on the influence of political party affiliation. Without the guide, voters counted most the candidate’s party affiliation when making a choice. With the guide, the poll showed that party affiliation dropped to the third most important factor in picking a candidate.
This finding suggests that the more successful the voter guide, the more likely judicial elections will live up to their official status as nonpartisan races. Both parties made no secret about their choices, and most candidates did the same about party affiliation.
“Both Democrats and Republicans didn’t quit acting like Democrats and Republicans,” observes Sen. Ham Horton, R-Winston-Salem. “I do believe that the idea of nonpartisan elections for judges sort of fell on its face.”
Former U.S. Senator Robert Morgan suggests that future voter guides not mention party affiliation in keeping with the intent of the Judicial Campaign Reform Act. “A person should not tout his party affiliation” in a nonpartisan race, he argues.
But Morgan was happy with the overall impact of the voter guide. “Most people considered it informative and nearly all of them said that they can’t know about the candidates without such information. Most people were pleased with it,” he says.
The voter guide’s future depends on its funding. The Judicial Campaign Reform Act offered taxpayers the chance to mark a check-off box on their income tax form that would authorize the state to put $3 into its Public Campaign Financing Fund. (The money will not be taken from the taxpayer’s refund; it is not added to the amount of taxes paid.) The Fund pays for the publication and distribution of the guide.
“It’s a very small price to ask people to pay to participate,” say Rand who is prepared to seek direct funding from the legislature. “People really do want an independent judiciary.”
Barlow Herget is a former Raleigh city councilman and writes the Follow the Money column for the N.C. Center for Voter Education.
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