Arizona Voters Asked to Protect Judges Following Abortion Ruling

Arizona voters will face conflicting decisions on the November ballot—whether to oust two state Supreme Court justices who upheld a near-total ban on abortion, and if they should eliminate such judicial retention elections almost entirely.

The state legislature sent to the ballot Wednesday a measure (S.C.R. 1044) that will ask voters to protect most judges from retention elections that decide whether they keep their seats. Instead, judges would only face voters if they are convicted of certain crimes, initiate personal bankruptcy proceedings, fail to meet judicial performance standards, or foreclose on a mortgage.

The Nov. 5 ballot measure ...