California judicial elections

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The California judicial elections occur through the retention election of appellate judges and the non-partisan election of Superior Court judges.

  • Judicial elections occur in California in even-numbered years.

Primary election

Only candidates for the Superior Courts compete in primary elections. The majority of seats are uncontested.

  • If a Superior Court judge runs unopposed for re-election his or her name does not appear on the ballot. [1] This makes candidate lists difficult to find, even on Registrar of Voters (ROV) websites. One helpful method is to compare list of judges running for re-election found in the Candidate Handbook with the official list of primary candidates on ROV websites. If a judge is listed in the handbook but not on the ballot, she/he is running unopposed and will automatically be elected after the primary.

When two or more candidates run in the primary, anyone who gets more than 50% of the vote is declared elected. When no candidate gets over 50% in the primary, the top two compete in a run-off election in the general election.

General election

  • Appellate judges stand for retention in the general election.
  • Candidates that advanced from the primary election compete in the general election.

Results

Statewide results are posted on the Secretary of State website. County results are found on county Board of Elections websites.

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Terms

Superior Court judges serve six-year terms that begin on the Monday following January 1 after their election. [2]

Elections

See also

References

CaliforniaCalifornia Supreme CourtCalifornia Courts of AppealCalifornia Superior CourtsUnited States District Court for the Central District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Southern District of CaliforniaUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitCalifornia countiesCalifornia judicial newsCalifornia judicial electionsJudicial selection in CaliforniaCaliforniaTemplatewithoutBankruptcy.jpg
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