Electing judges is not the right way to go, but in Ohio that's how it's done.

So how do you determine who to vote for?

Difficult for the layman - because in Cuyahoga County alone there are over 90 elected judicial offices - see following from Judge4yourself

"Why do you rate only candidates on the Cuyahoga County ballot?
There are nearly 90 judicial positions on the ballot in Cuyahoga County, taking into account Cuyahoga County courts, municipal courts, and the Ohio Supreme Court. So our volunteers have their hands full! Bar associations in other counties may rate judicial candidates, and we encourage voters to seek out that information."

Judge 4 Yourself . com is one source of biographical and professional information about Cuyahoga County and state supreme court judicial candidates for the November 6, 2012 election cycle.  

If there are other relatively independent sources of info out there - please ad them as a comment below. 

Thanks