Florida justices, judges up for retention

The Nov. 6 ballot will include seven justices that are up for re-election, or judicial merit retention.

Florida justices are initially appointed to the bench through the judicial merit selection process but then must receive a majority of votes thereafter to remain on the bench.

Under judicial merit retention, justices and appeals court judges appear on the ballot in staggered six-year terms. According to Florida election laws, judicial candidates are prohibited from making predictions and promises about issues that could come before them on the bench. As such, judges must run a non-partisan campaign and judges are not identified by political party identification on the ballot.

For the complete story, see the Nov. 1 issue of Navarre Press or subscribe online.