A judicial retention vote differs from a regular election in that voters are not asked to choose from a list of candidates — the judges on the ballot do not have opponents.
In the 2008 general election, the voters of Cook County, Illinois were asked to vote on the following:[2] Shall each of the persons listed be retained in office as Judge of the Appellate Court, First Judicial District?
This plan which is also known as the merit system, was proposed by Albert M. Kales, co-founder of the American Judicature Society.
disapprove of any form of judicial elections on the grounds that they may undermine the independence of the courts and encourage judges to act as politicians.
It is also argued that retention elections may lead to corruption because to successfully run for public office money and campaigning is needed.
This may allow interest groups to take advantage of the system by giving money in exchange for favourable rulings by individual judges.