A jointly-sponsored judicial election Web site for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals candidates will help voters in this fall's appellate judicial elections. The Web site address is www.votingforjudges.org.
The site's content includes, as available, the following information for each candidate for the Washington Supreme Court and the three divisions of the Court of Appeals:
- Resume of each candidate;
- Editorial endorsements;
- Evaluations by bar associations and civic associations;
- Results of bar polls and other judicial evaluation information;
- Contributions to the candidate's campaign, including a link to the Public Disclosure Commission;
- Completed disciplinary actions involving the candidate;
- Answers to "frequently asked questions" (for example, why it is important to vote for judges; a description of the duties of judges at the respective appellate levels; a summary of desirable judicial qualities; and general information about the judicial branch of government); and
- Links to related Web sites, including the Web sites of the candidates and any associations that have rated the candidate, other judicial election-oriented sites and government Web sites such as the Administrative Office of the Courts.
The Web site has been developed by several organizations, including the Municipal League of King County, the League of Women Voters of Washing-ton, the Washington State Bar Associa-tion, the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers, the American Judicature Society and the King County Bar Association.
KCBA President John Ruhl urged all KCBA members to forward the judicial election Web site address to their clients, business colleagues and friends in order to help achieve as much public exposure for the Web site as possible.
"Our basic premise is that the more information about each judicial candidate that can be made available to the voters, the better," Ruhl said. "The Web site presents a broad spectrum of information about the judicial candidates that most voters would not be able to locate otherwise."
