‘Check Your Judges’: Injustice Watch’s free Judicial Election Guide sheds light on bottom of the ballot

On Election Day, the largest segment on the ballot is often the most ignored. For the past eight years, a Chicagoland nonprofit has worked hard to change that.

Nonprofit newsroom Injustice Watch again developed a Judicial Election Guide (also available in Spanish) to prepare voters for what can be an overwhelming bottom of the ballot.

“When we started doing this guide in 2016, there was very little information available on judicial candidates,” Jonah Newman, managing editor of Injustice Watch, told The Record in 2023. “… We wanted to fill this information gap in Cook County.

“Judges are really important public officials whose decisions have direct impact on people’s lives, think divorces, evictions, foreclosures, criminal cases. They have impact and a lot of power.”

The digital guide takes Injustice Watch around six months to produce, Newman said, as the organization’s reporters collect information on candidates’ past decisions, community involvement, local connections, endorsements and more. The info is then compiled into a user-friendly guide that gives users a preview of their ballot and comprehensive profiles of each candidate.

Users can then print or save their ballots — with or without candidate selections — to use as a reference inside the voting booth. The guide does not include endorsements or recommendations.

When Injustice Watch first launched the guide, Newman said about 66 percent of county voters made a selection in at least one judicial race. Eight years later, he said, that number is 79 percent.

Cook County is divided into 18 judicial subcircuit districts. New Trier Township is primarily in the 9th subcircuit district, for which there are no contested elections this cycle; however, county-wide, township residents can vote on a number of items, including a contested circuit court race and several judges up for retention.

• Click here to view Injustice Watch’s Judicial Election Guide

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Subscribe to The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a subscriber? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.