Potential judges and candidates for non-judicial state offices elected by the General Assembly must be screened by the Judicial Merit Selection Committee (JMSC) or a joint legislative screening committee respectively before they are eligible to run for these offices. Once candidates for either kind of office are found qualified by their respective committee lawmakers may immediately pledge their vote for the election of a candidate. S.374 and S.436 would add new provisions to state law prohibiting candidates from obtaining vote pledges until 12 days after they have been found qualified to run for office.Further provisions in each bill would mandate that at least 22 days must pass between the reporting of nominations by the committee and the date the General Assembly conducts elections for those offices.
These bills are attempts to prevent candidates for offices elected by the legislature from being rushed into office for reasons other than their professional qualifications. Unlike the current system which encourages nepotism and favor trading, the provisions of S.374 and S.436 would provide more time for lawmakers to judge and elect candidates for state office and judicial seats based on merit.