A district court judge has dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the ballot procedure used in last fall’s judicial retention election.
The lawsuit was filed in December, after Iowans voted three Iowa Supreme Court justices off the bench. The lawsuit cited a part of the state constitution which says judicial officers are to stand for a retention vote “on a separate ballot.” The names of the justices, as well as district court judges up for retention last year, were printed on the same paper ballot as the rest of the candidates and issues presented to voters in the General Election.
A Polk County District Court Judge has ruled the three attorneys who filed the lawsuit failed to show how they, as individuals, were injured or harmed by the way the vote was conducted.
This lawsuit originally sought to keep the three ousted justices on the Iowa Supreme Court until the case was resolved, but the three attorneys who were pursuing the case withdrew that request in December.