In an election that many Alaskans are calling “the most important of our lifetimes,” with the presidency and control of the US Senate on the line, as well as control of the Alaska House and possibly even the Alaska Senate, and ballot propositions that will determine whether Alaska’s oil tax regime and our election laws will be changed, it is tempting to take a pass on the last part of the ballot — the part dealing with retention of judges. Don’t do it. Finish the ballot.

Alaska’s judicial selection and retention system are the best in the world. It focuses on finding the best-qualified candidates for the governor to choose from, then gives the voters the last say, by requiring every judge within three years of appointment to go before the voters to determine if the judge will be retained. And the voters don’t have to vote blind, because the Judicial Council — a citizen body created by the Alaska Constitution — gathers an immense amount of information about the judge’s performance and makes it available to the electorate before the election.

Source: JUNEAU EMPIRE AND KETCHIKAN DAILY NEWS