Inquirer Editorial: Vote 'no' on misleading ballot question raising judges' retirement age

The affront to democracy that comes to voters in the form of a ballot question that would extend the retirement age for elderly Pennsylvania judges should be voted down to send a clear message to its partisan authors.

The original version of the question written for the April primary ballot clearly stated its intent was to increase the retirement age from 70 to 75. But the Republican-controlled legislature changed the measure's wording at the last minute to remove any reference to the current retirement age, and the primary results were not officially counted.

The question as it appears on the Nov. 8 ballot may mislead voters into thinking they are being asked to set a retirement age for judges for the first time. They might vote differently if they understand that they are being asked to add five years to an elderly judge's tenure.

When the question's wording was changed, the Supreme Court included only one Republican, Chief Justice Thomas Saylor, who turns 70 in December. It appeared that the Republicans were trying to prolong Saylor's tenure. A second Republican, Justice Sallie Updyke Mundy, joined the court in July.

The legislature's sleight-of-hand trick didn't go unnoticed. Former justices Ronald D. Castille and Stephen Zappala Sr. and Philadelphia lawyer Richard A. Sprague filed suit to challenge the ballot question's accuracy. After Saylor recused himself, the state Supreme Court deadlocked in considering the case. That essentially left the wording intact and Commonwealth Court dismissed the plaintiff's petition to reconsider it.

The integrity of the democratic process is threatened when voters are given misleading information. That this matter has been decided by judges who have a stake in it further taints their decision.

The argument to extend the retirement age isn't compelling. Proponents say unless it is raised from 70 to 75, 19 judicial vacancies will be created by this year's end, including Saylor's post. It's hard to believe that in all of Pennsylvania there are not 19 men and women of good character, temperament, and experience who could replace the retirees. Pennsylvanians should vote NO on the question.

Also on the ballot in Philadelphia will be a question asking voters to give the city permission to sell bonds totaling $184.3 million that would be spent on capital improvements to municipal buildings, $100.9 million; streets and sanitation, $33.4 million; parks, recreation, and museums, $25.7 million; economic and community development, $19.5 million; and transit, $4.7 million.

Mayor Kenney earlier this year said he wanted to borrow up to $300 million to upgrade rec centers, parks, and other buildings. A William Penn Foundation grant allowed the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation to assess the city's assets. Bond financing is the next step toward rehabilitating viable facilities. Vote YES on the ballot question.