Tennessee voters will be deciding whether to keep the state's method of selecting appellate judges, the Associated Press reports. Under a "merit selection" system, the governor makes appointments to fill vacancies on the state's appellate courts and voters then decide whether to keep the judges and justices in retention elections. A proposed constitutional amendment would allow legislators to reject the governor's nominees.
Control of the Tennessee appellate courts has been heated this year. Three Democratic justices on the Tennessee Supreme Court were retained in the most expensive judicial campaign in the state's history. Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey funded much of the effort to oust the justices. According to the AP, he will push for popular elections for judges if the constitutional amendment fails.
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