Wait, I have to vote for judges, too? A primer on NYC's judicial elections.
New York voters have been bombarded with information on a multitude of crucial elections, including presidential, congressional and state legislative races. But the part of the ballot that often boasts the greatest number of candidates is also the most obscure: judges.
While the governor appoints certain high-level judges, like those on the New York Court of Appeals, judges in the Civil, Surrogate and Supreme Courts appear on voters’ ballots. (In New York, the Supreme Court is one of the lower courts in the system.)
How they get there varies greatly by seat and location. And voters often head into booths without having heard of their judicial candidates, who are in effect predetermined by county parties.
“The premise that electing judges creates more accountability — in some ways, it's false,” said Rachael Fauss, a senior policy adviser for the government reform group Reinvent Albany. ”These are extremely low-information elections for voters.”
https://gothamist.com/news/new-york-judicial-nominees-election