Why does voting ballot ask me if an appointed person should remian in office?

The BBQ Pit
1

I live in Florida and opted to vote by assentee ballot.

There are 7 separate boxes to vote, each asking if a certain person should be retained in office.

These are nonpartisan questions. The titles are Justice of the Supreme Court and District Court of Appeal.

I did a quick look up on one name, Kenneth B. Bell. He was appointed by Jeb Bush.

My question is, why are they asking me if each person should be retained if it’s an appointed position?

If they are appointed, and say 51 percent of people say, “no, do not retain that person”, does that mean Jeb has to find another person to fill that position?

At this point I was going to leave those questions blank, but it’s really bothering me that I don’t understand. I figured maybe if I asked , a few more voters might understand.

2

In California, we use a similar system with our Supreme Court justices.

First, they are appointed by the Governor.

Then, the public votes on whether or not the justice stays on the Supreme Court.

(And, yes, if the justice loses the vote, than the Governor appoints a new one.)

3

Looks like Bell’s in for good:

**Lawyers responding to a secret ballot mailed in August voted in favor of Justices Kenneth B. Bell and Raoul G. Cantero III after being asked whether incumbent judges should be retained for another six-year term under the merit retention system.

Bell received 80 percent of the retention vote, while Cantero received 84 percent, according to results released Friday.**

Source: tampabay.bizjournals.com

4

That’s just the lawyer’s poll results; the people still have to vote to retain. Most do vote to retain. Florida has never had a judge removed this way, but the Judicial Qualifications Commision will remove a judge if they determine that the judge has violated ethics.

5

Colorado does the same; though they originally gain their position by appointment, every few years there is a vote whether to retain a judge. I always vote yes unless I know of some reason to vote no. In general, I’m against the judiciary having to face a popular vote.