Now the real work begins... for me. Meanwhile, welcome early voters!

Updated June 12, 2022

This picture of Mel Brooks (from High Anxiety) is not put here randomly.

First, in case you ddn't already know, the June 28 primary is being held on Mel Brooks' 96th birthday. We're used to St. Patrick's Day primaries in Illinois, but this year we have the Mel Brooks Birthday Primary. Thanks, Covid!

Second, this is the season of high anxiety, not just for the candidates, but also for me, your host and moderator. Early voting is already underway, but bar groups are only now releasing their ratings, I'm still trying to track down endorsements from a variety of groups, and I still want to obtain and publish statements from as many candidates as I can.

But there's enough available now, finally, that I can undertake the major work of this site for the primary season, namely, the Organizing the Data posts. Contrary to what the nattering nabobs of negativism say, you can find a lot of information about most Cook County judicial candidates, if only you dig around for it. On this site, as you will (hopefully) see in the coming days, because I've been digging right along, voters will have a way to compare all sorts of information about each candidate in every race. Voters will be able to click on a given race and see information about the candidates, in ballot order, and then (again, hopefully) make informed choices as to who is worthy of their vote.

And guess what? Different voters, viewing the same information, will reach different conclusions.

Sort of how different bar associations, viewing the same candidate, and the candidate's materials, will sometimes reach different conclusions about that candidate's fitness for the bench.

Anyway, I'll update this information as often and as much as possible right up until election day. I won't be making endorsements, but I'll report as many endorsements as I can verify for each candidate. So stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I know some readers have landed here because they plan to vote early. Tomorrow, maybe. Later today. The mail-in ballot is sitting on the kitchen table demanding attention. Whatever.

If you are one of those who can't wait for the Organizing the Data posts, for whatever reason, there are some things you can look at right now that will assist you in making informed choices in judicial races. These resources follow.

But can I try and talk you out of early voting first? It won't stop the commercials, you know. If early voting could stop the commericials, I'd have been the first in line at the Chicago Supersite, banging on the doors.

Sadly, it doesn't work that way.

Anyway... if you're bound and determined to vote early, you may find some of these links helpful:

• VoteforJudges.org (if Macy's doesn't have what the customer wants, send 'em back to Gimbels!);
• Compare ratings and explanations of those ratings issued by the Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Council of Lawyers, and the Illinois State Bar Association for Appellate Court candidates;
• Compare ratings and explanations of those rating issued by the CBA, CCL, and ISBA for candidates seeking countywide judicial vacancies;
• Compare ratings and explanations for those ratings issued by the CBA, CCL, and ISBA for candidates seeking judicial vacancies in Subcircuits 1, 4, 5, or 6;
• Compare ratings and explanations of those ratings issued by the CBA, CCL, and ISBA for candidates seeking vacancies in the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th Subcircuits;
• Compare ratings and explanations for those ratings issued by the CBA, CCL, and ISBA for candidates for vacancies in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Subcircuits;
• The latest "grids" from the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening;
• The Injustice Watch 2022 Judicial Primary Guide (after I put up my brief post about the site I had some anonymous complaints -- always anonymous -- about the site being difficult to use, but I'm guessing that it is being tweaked and improved regularly);
• Looking for someone to tell you who to vote for? There's the "Girl, I Guess" Progressive Voters Guide, or the endorsements made by the Chicago Federation of Labor (which were soon thereafter updated), or the IVI-IPO, or PersonalPac.

And to reiterate: I'll continue to put up posts about endorsements that I can properly verify. So anyone with information like that to share should email me.

And, again, I will continue to accept candidate statements. See this post for details.