The root of the problem this "voter convenience at any cost" approach is trying to solve is that positions that low maybe shouldn't be assigned by vote at all.

The root of the problem this "voter convenience at any cost" approach is trying to solve is that positions that low maybe shouldn't be assigned by vote at all. Vote for presidents, legislators and mayors, but you have to stop doing elections at some point before reaching the office of vice janitor of the public library. Very low voter turnout is an indicator that you are close to that point. And I'm not just talking election pragmatics here, I'm also convinced that lower offices will on average see less abuse if given to career bureaucrats than if given to people who invest the effort of running in an election for an uncertain chance to get - whatever they were hoping for. It's more likely to be worth the effort for the self-serving type.