Well, that was interesting...

[Jolly]

The 1950 movie, Perfect Strangers is a love story set against the backdrop of a murder trial. The movie starts with jury selection in Los Angeles County.

Here's how it worked:

1. By defined random mechanism, the ward, precinct and voter was determined. In this case, each fifth book of voters, each ninth precinct, fifth voter on the third page.
2. As witnessed, the books were pulled and the names and addresses called out
3. The names and addresses were typed on perforated paper. Each strip contained the name and address of one voter.
4. The strips were placed into a hopper in front of witnesses and sealed.
5. A judge was summoned and checked the seals on the hopper. The judge then spun the hopper and unsealed it. The Clerk of Court reached in and pulled a few handfuls of strips, with the judge presiding.
6. 250 voter strips were counted out, extras were returned to the hopper. Those 250 names selected received registered letters for jury summons.

Thought the process was interesting.

[taiwan_girl]

How is it done now? Some sort of random process I think, right?

[jon-nyc]

Im sure it varies by municipality and/or state. And probably pretty computerized by now.