What "retain" or "replace" means on a judicial ballot

Not a race — a yes-or-no question

Some judicial seats in Tennessee use retention elections. In a retention election, there is no opponent. Instead, the ballot asks you whether a sitting judge should be retained — that is, kept in office — or replaced. You vote yes or no.

If a majority votes yes, the judge continues serving. If a majority votes no, the seat becomes vacant and is filled through the process the state uses for vacancies.

Which judges are on your retention ballot

Retention questions on your ballot may include judges you do not usually think of as "yours":

• Appellate judges face statewide retention. Every Tennessee voter has a say on whether they stay.
• Trial-level judges in some divisions face retention in the area their court covers — which can include counties beyond where you live. A Davidson County voter, for example, may vote on retention for judges of the Eastern and Western Divisions of the state's intermediate appellate courts even though those divisions are not where they live.

How to prepare

Judges rarely campaign. To decide how to vote on retention, look for:

• The judge's biography and past cases.
• Bar association evaluations, when available.
• Local reporting on the court's work.

Then vote yes or no based on what you learned.