Other Judicial Offices

[jne]

Anyone have any idea who they are voting for and why??

[Hometown]

I need some help on judicial officers too.  Also would like to know if there are any judges that shouldn't be retained.  The State Questions look pretty straight forward but what about the tax exemption on items being shipped into the state and then out of the state a short time later?

[Steve]

In Oklahoma, many judicial positions are elective rather than appointed.  You vote on to keep the judge in office or to discard them.  If the judge is not retained by vote, then the governor or appropriate authority appoints a new judge.
It is hard for John Q. Public to decide on judicial issues, unless you have the time or effort to follow all of the judicial decisions.  For bad or good, I think the present system is best; at least the voting public has the power to eliminate a judge if they think his/her rulings are consistently bad.

[jne]

yes, but we also vote on judicial offices with competing candidates (see Wall v. Kuehn battle royale)  This one is being covered quite well:)  How about Smith v. Kellough, Fitzgerald v. Dexter, Shallcross v. Sutton?  Who can't stand one of these?  Who has faith in somebody?  Everyone just picks eeeneee meeeneeee or what?

[pmcalk]

I am seriously considering leaving all of the judicial votes blank.  I simply believe that it is inappropriate for me to vote on someone based pretty much on random guesses.  It goes against everything I believe, that as a voter I am obligated to investigate the positions of a candidate and decide who best represents me.  How am I suppose to do that with a judge?  They cannot tell me their positions on anything.  I am not going to spend hours reading their opinions, and even if I did, I don't know that I would be qualified to evaluate them.  And if I didn't like the opinion, would it be because the judge didn't interpert the law correctly, or simply because it wasn't the result I wanted?  I can look at who is endorsing whom, but what does that say about how informed my decision is--that it was based on who liked the judge.  And how did they get the endorsements anyway?  What if the person just has a grudge?

I just think Judges should be appointed with set terms, with possibility of removal earlier.

To answer your question, though, I have heard nothing but good things about Kellough, Fitzgerald, Dexter, and Shallcross.  Nothing bad about the other (with the exception of the Wall v. Kuehn blood bath), just nothing one way or another.

[RecycleMichael]

Dexter and Fitzgerald both were very visible at this summer's Neighborfest events. They both seem very nice and I had many good conversations with them both. I liked Dexter more so she gets my vote.

My parents's are good friends with Clifford Smith's parents and I have worked with Bill Kellough's daughter for years. They both are good choices and I had good conversations this summer with them as well. I am going with Kellough, again just because I liked him slightly better in person and I respect his service on the library commission.

I do not know much about Wall and Kuehn, but the district attorney's interest in promoting Kuehn makes me choose Wall in this one.

I know little about Shallcross or Sutton except for their websites and what I have read on forums like this one. Shallcross seems more impressive, and has been honored for her community service by almost every women's or child protection agency. Sutton seems very cool, likes Harleys and is very involved in Guts Church. I am choosing Shallcross on this one.

[jne]

I am pretty well decided on Wall.  Something is very odd about this whole thing and Kuhen seems suspect to me, but it is sad that thats all the reason I have.

[Cubs]

I would tell you who I voted for, but then you would probably vote opposite just because you think I am crazy wacko.

[rwarn17588]

Well, Cubs, you'd better ask yourself why most of the board feels that way.

[Hometown]

How about retaining justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court?  The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals?  The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals?  Are there any judges that we should not retain?  Maybe it would be good to open up some appointments for the next governor?

If I voted yes on Question 734 would it end up being some kind of massive revenue give away?  If we exempt tax on items that pass through the state in less than 90 days, will we be giving away a lot of current state revenue?  Who would benefit?

[TheArtist]

I believe Shallcross was the presiding judge on the only trial I have been to. I was a juror.  I was very impressed with the judges demeanor.  I dont know how to describe it other than she had a, been there done that, knew what she was doing confidence that wasnt arrogant, but was kind and solid, just had that look of "knowing" on her face yet without being judgmental lol. (sorry this is my artistic "sensing" side speaking, I have learned that I have a knack of getting a persons core after I have met them a few times.)  She seemed an above average person, a real adult, if that makes sense, and I have found that those kinds of people are, unfortunately, rare in this world.

[Chris]

I would also like some info on SQ 734, if anyone knows that is. [] I was also wondering if anyone knew whether not marking any candidate in a race would invalidate the rest of the votes(because of the computer that reads the ballots)?

[rwarn17588]

No. Not marking a particular race is listed on the summary sheets as an "undervote." This is very common.

The rest of the candidates you cast ballots for are counted. It's no big deal.

I'm quite confident of Oklahoma's optical scan system. It's very reliable, leaves a paper trail, and is very accurate.

It's certainly much better than those touch-screen voting machines in other states, which I predict will be sh*tcanned unless some major, major changes are made.

[Hometown]

I just gave up and read the World's endorsements to see about SQ 734.  It looks like the exemption is already given but the change in law would tighten the deadline to report the exemption.  World says it would preserve financial stability.

There must be a couple of stinkers in those judge retention votes but I'll have to develop a list later for the next go round.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by Hometown

How about retaining justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court?  The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals?  The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals?  Are there any judges that we should not retain?  Maybe it would be good to open up some appointments for the next governor?

If I voted yes on Question 734 would it end up being some kind of massive revenue give away?  If we exempt tax on items that pass through the state in less than 90 days, will we be giving away a lot of current state revenue?  Who would benefit?

Hometown- they gave a preview of this on the news last week, the reporter said the wording was very confusing.  After seeing it on the ballot this morning, I was equally puzzled.  My rule of thumb is if I can't figure out what the question does, I vote against it, assuming they will re-word it and put it on another ballot in the future if it is worthwhile.  I don't like voting for something that is so complicated that the average voter can't make heads or tails of it.