Judicial primary elections are the only ones that matter in Indiana's largest county and voters basically get no say in the general elections.
Or at least, that's what Common Cause, an open government group, and the American Civil Liberties Union claim in a lawsuit filed Thursday against the Indiana Secretary of State.
In Marion County, Ind., 20 of the 36 superior-court judges are up for re-election but all 20 of them will run unopposed, which is required by Indiana state law, The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog reported.
The ACLU explains the state's unusual voting process and why the organization has such a problem with it:
Under Indiana law, each of the major political parties conducts a primary election at which it selects exactly half of the seats to be filled, which renders the general election a mere formality. Voters in Marion County who do not cast a ballot in the primary election, therefore, have absolutely no say in electing judges to the Marion Superior Court. This process means that even people who do vote in the primary election have a say in only half of the judgeships to be filled.
Basically, "in Marion County, you’re given half a vote at the time of the primary election, and essentially nothing at the time of the general election," ACLU of Indiana Director Ken Falk told Law Blog.
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