Alaska's Constitution: Selecting Judges Based On Merit and Judicial Retention Elections is a system that allows the people of Alaska to select their state judges through a process that focuses on merit-based selection and retention elections. Under this system, the governor appoints a judge from a list of qualified applicants and, after a period of time, the judge stands for a retention election. If the judge receives a majority of votes in favor of retention, he or she is retained in office. There are two types of Alaska's Constitution: Selecting Judges Based On Merit and Judicial Retention Elections. The first type is merit-based selection, which is based on a screening process by the Alaska Judicial Council. The council evaluates applicants and makes recommendations to the governor, who makes the final decision. The second type is a retention election, which is held after a judge has been in office for a certain period of time. The voters decide whether the judge should remain in office by voting yes or no.