For those who have not yet voted: Resources for navigating the Cook County judicial retention ballot

Supposedly, at least half of those who are going to vote in this election have already done so.

But, if you have not yet voted, you may not have yet faced the reality that there are nearly 60 Cook County jurists seeking retention on the ballot.

Appellate Court justices are elected to 10-year terms. Circuit Court judges have 6-year terms. When their terms are up, these judges are not obliged to go through a contested election process to stay on the job. Instead, voters are asked to state, yes or no, whether each judge should be "retained in office." To remain on the bench---to be retained in office---a judge must get a "yes" vote from more than 60% of the voters answering the question.

There are only two Appellate Court justices seeking retention this year, but well over 50 Circuit Court judges. The Circuit Court judges are not listed in alphabetical order; rather, those serving longest are listed first.

Information about Cook County judges on the retention ballot is available on the 2020 Cook County Retention Judges Website. That's a site published by almost all of the retention judges, who are running as a group.

Two persons not on the retention judges site are Judge Mauricio Araujo (who has resigned) and Judge Patricia Manila Martin (who said she was resigning). With the exception of these two individuals, all of the judges on the 2020 retention ballot are recommended by at least some of the many bar associations that screen judicial candidates; the vast majority have been recommended by each each and every one of the bar groups. Here's a linked list of the posts I've put up about the bar association ratings:

• CBA recommends "yes" vote for 60 of 62 jurists seeking retention;
• Chicago Council of Lawyers finds eight jurists Well Qualified for retention, one Highly Qualified;
• ISBA releases narratives for its Cook County judicial retention ratings;
• Suburban Bar Coalition announces retention recommendations; and
• Final Alliance grids released this morning.

More information about retention judge candidates. Injustice Watch offers this interactive guide to the retention ballot. The Chicago Tribune has announced its retention endorsements. The Chicago Sun-Times has run a couple of editorials about retention races. The IVI-IPO has also offered guidance on retention races.

And, if that's not enough for you, you can look at all the posts here on FWIW labeled "2020 Retention Election" by clicking here.