The Review-Journal earlier this month published a section devoted to judges running for election. I commend the paper for its effort. It was a vast improvement of what was done in previous years. I do, however, have the following concern:

If my figures are correct, of the 79 candidates running for judgeships, 44 of them have no opposition. To put it another way, 55.3 percent of them are going to be elected without fail. To me, that partly explains why there are an increasing number of questionable decisions being handed down by judges. This practice may lead to a judiciary that can be controlled by a certain faction, be that good or bad.

I’m not sure how to fix the problem but do know that the present system is not the best way to elect judges or, for that matter, any elected officials.