Mandatory Retirement Ages for Judges?

I was bemused to realize that I was on my way to vote today in the primaries in Pennsylvania without knowing in advance the outcome of a dispute over language to be used on an a referendum issue on the ballot.  The issue was mandatory retirement ages for judges in Pennsylvania.  In Pennsylvania, state judges are elected.

An early formulation of the referendum question was as follows:

Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to require that justices of the Supreme Court, judges, and magisterial district judges be retired on the last day of the calendar year in which they attain the age of 75 years?

An alternative proposal for the wording was:

Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to require that justices of the Supreme Court, judges and justices of the peace (known as magisterial district judges) be retired on the last day of the calendar year in which they attain the age of 75 years, instead of the current requirement that they be retired on the last day of the calendar year in which they attain the age of 70?

Interesting, yes? The wording does appear to potentially influence the outcome on the referendum, particularly in a state where there has been a fair amount of turmoil about behavior of members of the judiciary, unrelated to age issues, but also unlikely to make the average member of the public eager to vote to extend time in office.   From an education-of-the-voter standpoint, I was relieved when I saw the latter version on the ballot. 

For more, read Penn Live’s recent coverage on the “age” issue here.  Plus, look for the outcome on the issue in news coverage after Tuesday’s primary election.

4/26/16 Noon UPDATE:  It turns out that even though “my” precinct’s electronic ballot contained a referendum regarding the mandatory retirement age for judges, any vote on that issue doesn’t actually count.  The Pennsylvania legislature voted to take the judicial age question off the primary ballot.  So, despite my own preference for an “educate-the-voter” version for such a referendum, on November 8 the “first” version of the language quoted above will appear.  Hmmmmm.  Here’s more on this topic.