House Jud A tables partisan judicial election bill

Panel tables plan for judges to be elected with party labels

The House Judiciary A Committee, on a split voice vote on Tuesday, tabled House Bill 496.

Mississippi switched from partisan to nonpartisan judicial elections in 1994. However, House Speaker Pro Tem Greg Snowden, a Meridian Republican, says he thinks the state should switch back.

Snowden says the current judicial election structure is flawed because when more than two candidates run for a judgeship, runoff elections are held three weeks after the general election. Turnout usually falls off sharply.

Daily Journal
1/17/17