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Jane Ann Morrison

On-call Election Day judges should not be all Republicans

Jane Ann Morrison
November 1, 2008 - 4:13 pm
 

In today’s political arena, it was a huge mistake for Chief District Court Judge Kathy Hardcastle to appoint three Republican judges to be on call Tuesday to deal with election matters.

Sure judges are nonpartisan, but it would have been far more savvy for Hardcastle to appoint four judges, two Republicans and two Democrats, so the process would look nonpartisan.

Yes, Nevada judges run as nonpartisans, but it’s easy enough to check out who is a registered Republican and who is a registered Democrat. The three judges she appointed to be on call for election matter — Valerie Adair, David Barker and Douglas Herndon — are all Republicans.

If there are problems, the all-GOP judicial lineup will look biased, even if the judges are totally unbiased. The perception of fairness counts for something. Not a smart move by Hardcastle.

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