During the 1930s, the community became increasingly dissatisfied with the growing role of politics in the selection of judges and judicial decision-making. Judges were inundated with external pressure due to the political characteristics of the electoral process, and lists were overcrowded due to the time judges devoted to campaigning. In November 1940, voters amended the Missouri Constitution to adopt the judicial plan of nonpartisan selection of judges. This plan was put to the vote via initiative petition. The plan's acceptance via initiative referendum was the result of a public backlash against widespread abuses of the justice system by the Kansas City political machine and the political control exhibited by St. Louis precinct leaders (Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan , n.d.). The Missouri Plan is a judicial selection process used by some states in the United States. The Plan combines an appointment procedure with a popular vote. Under the Plan, a selection committee offers the State Governor the names of three candidates for the office. If the Governor chooses one of the candidates within sixty days, that person remains in office for one year; otherwise, the committee carries out the selection and appointment. After a year, Justice proceeds unopposed to the next general election ballot. If voters support their continued tenure, the justice holds office for the number of years specified for the office in that state's constitution. If voters contest retention, the selection process starts over again. Initially, “twelve states used the Missouri Plan to fill judicial vacancies at the appellate level: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. Tennessee, Florida and California... middle of the paper... could work better. Those in favor of merit selection offer it as a preferable option to the politics and fundraising inherent in judicial elections, while those against argue that the nomination process itself is political and that, moreover, people have the right to elect your voter. judges. It appears that no matter what plan is used to select judges, there are many political and partisan elements that creep into the process. The question boils down to how much politics and how much of a part you want. It seems like the more politics and partisanship there is, the worse the results seem to be. The Missouri Plan appears to limit political involvement and therefore is the best plan available for selecting judges to the bench. This plan should be adopted more widely to limit the biases that are obviously everywhere in the system today.