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"We don't know how state judges are chosen, and that's the way we want to keep it."

In so many words, that's the finding of last week's Elon Poll.

It shows how hard it will be to improve the judicial-selection process in North Carolina.

For those who don't know, we elect judges here except when there's a vacancy. Then the governor makes an appointment to fill the unexpired term.

Most voters don't know anything about the candidates and often make poor choices, which is what you'd expect occasionally when people vote more or less at random.

But, as the Elon Poll shows, most people oppose changing to an appointment system.

That's understandable. The principle of electing public officials is a cherished one even if most people don't care personally to participate in the process.

For example, if you asked people in Greensboro whether the mayor should be elected or chosen in some other way, just about everyone probably would say the mayor should be elected.

Yet, in this month's election for mayor, about 80 percent did not bother to vote.

The problem with suggesting that someone should appoint judges is deciding who that someone should be.

If it's the governor, well, that's not entirely acceptable. We've learned enough about Mike Easley to suspect he wouldn't appoint anyone to anything without expecting something in return.

So the governor's options would have to be restricted.

As I noted a few weeks ago here, the process for filling a vacancy at the District Court level is a good one. The local Bar picks three candidates and the governor chooses one. The Bar, which basically consists of all the attorneys within the district, has an interest in putting qualified people on the bench. In the recent case, its leading candidate by a huge margin was High Point attorney Jan Samet, who's a highly respected lawyer with more than 30 years of experience. The governor would be unwise to ignore that strong recommendation, and the result will be the addition of a good judge to the local bench -- which has not always been the outcome of local judicial elections. But in elections, you often end up with the person who runs the best campaign, not necessarily the person who is best qualified. When voters don't pay much attention, any result is possible.

We can find a better way, but the Elon Poll tells us it will take a lot of convincing by leaders who understand how important an issue this is.